NORWICH – Norwich-based greek yogurt producer Chobani pulled two yogurt aisle foes into a dustup over controversial ingredients in its quest to maintain Chobani’s front and center position in refrigerators across America.
Chobani and rival Dannon will suit up in a Syracuse federal courtroom this week as Chobani seeks judicial input over its new television ads aimed at boasting the company's ‘Simply 100’ line of yogurt.
Cultured counterparts claim that commercials meant to underscore Chobani's commitment to all natural sweeteners liken the use of artificial sweeteners-like sucralose and potassium sorbate utilized in Dannon and Yoplait concoctions-to chlorine and “bug killer.”
Not to be mistaken for tongue and cheek, a Dannon “cease and desist” to Chobani delivered to two weeks ago was met by the federal lawsuit response by Chobani - asking a federal judge to make the call.
While Dannon demands that Chobani stop running the ads they call ‘false and misleading,’ the Chobani commercials continue.
“Sucralose has been proven safe for people to eat and is a healthy alternative for people trying to watch their sugar intake,” wrote Dannon's legal affairs team in court papers. “The falsities and misrepresentations [can] harm consumers by wrongfully frightening them into believing that perfectly safe and nutritious products-such as Dannon Light and Fit Greek-are harmful."
But Chobani disagrees.
“Consumers have the right to know what's in their cup,” said Peter McGuinness, Chobani's chief marketing and brand officer, in a news release. “This campaign is fundamentally about choice—the choice between natural ingredients versus artificial ingredients.”
Elsewhere, Yoplait parent company General Mills has also filed suit with Chobani over the ads in federal court in Minneapolis claiming that Chobani goes so far as to convey that Yoplait Greek 100 is laced with a pesticide.
“While I'm not surprised, I'm disappointed that Dannon and General Mills are focused on stopping people from having the facts about artificial sweeteners and artificial preservatives,” said McGuinness, “This campaign is about giving people truthful and accurate information so they can make more informed decisions about the food they buy.”