Remember the Seinfeld episode where the characters gain weight eating what is suppose to be low-calorie frozen yogurt? Well, a few years ago, this sit-com scenario was reality for New Yorkers when the CremaLita chain of frozen dessert shops was charged by the Big Apple's Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) with allegedly deceptive and misleading trade practices. The labeling issue arose in 2002 when The New York Times analyzed CremaLita ice cream and found that some of the products had two to four times as many calories as advertised.
Remember the Seinfeld episode where the characters gain weight eating what is suppose to be low-calorie frozen yogurt? Well, a few years ago, this sit-com scenario was reality for New Yorkers when the CremaLita chain of frozen dessert shops was charged by the Big Apple's Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) with allegedly deceptive and misleading trade practices. The labeling issue arose in 2002 when The New York Times analyzed CremaLita ice cream and found that some of the products had two to four times as many calories as advertised.
The New York City DCA and CremaLita eventually settled the charges. The agreement included that CremaLita is to conduct independent testing on any new products claiming to be "low calorie," "low fat" or "fat free." When advertising a fat-free product, CremaLita also must display signage informing customers of all flavors of the product that are not fat free. When advertising a product as cholesterol free, CremaLita must clearly disclose that cream in its product adds a trivial amount of cholesterol. When advertising amounts of sodium, carbohydrates, fat or calorie contents, the company must clearly disclose the range of amounts to customers, as well as the highest amount. In addition, CremaLita stores now maintain weekly overrun measurements to ensure compliance with what is advertised.