Santa Barbara and Ventura District Attorneys File Joint Civil Complaint Against The Kroger Company for Alleged False Advertisements

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara County and Ventura County District Attorney's Offices jointly filed a civil action against The Kroger Company, alleging violations of the state's false advertising and unfair competition laws.

The Kroger Company operates several grocery store chains in the state, including Ralph's, Food 4 Less and Foods Co.

The complaint specifically alleges that Kroger falsely advertised the calorie content of its “Carbmaster” brand of bread between November 2018 and at least June 2022.

Kroger advertised on the front packaging of its “Carbmaster Wheat” and “Carbmaster White” products that each slice contained 30 calories when in fact each slice contained 50 calories or more, the civil complaint alleged.

An image of the packaging from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office is below.

Additionally, the complaint explains that prior to June 2022, Kroger falsely advertised calorie counts both on the front package as well as on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nutrition label on the back of the package .

Kroger also continues to promote the low-calorie packaging of Carbmaster wheat bread on its website.

“Consumers rely on nutritional information to make important decisions about their personal health and well-being,” said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. “For some consumers, these decisions are based on medical necessity. False calorie advertising can mislead consumers, or even put them at risk, and provides an unfair advantage over competitors whose advertising complies with calorie guidelines. the FDA.”