Mondelez defeats greenwashing lawsuit over 'climate neutral' Clif Bar claim

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) -A federal judge dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Mondelez International of deceiving consumers into overpaying for Clif bars that were labeled "climate neutral certified."

U.S. District Judge Manish Shah in Chicago found nothing wrong with labels for Clif Kid Zbar and Zbar Protein products that reflected a certification from the Change Climate Project, a nonprofit that helps companies reduce emissions.

Shah dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again.

The plaintiff Cynthia Salguero accused Chicago-based Mondelez of greenwashing, or exaggerating the environmental impact of a product, by labeling Zbars as "climate neutral."

She said the manufacturing process for Zbars emits 54,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, the same amount as 12,596 gasoline-powered cars, causing a higher concentration of greenhouse gases and contributing to climate change.

But the judge said Mondelez did not advertise that Zbars were climate neutral, but only that they were certified as such.

"This is a distinction with a difference," Shah wrote. "There is nothing deceptive about Mondelez including on its packaging a true statement.... Salguero's complaint misstates the promise that Mondelez was making to prospective customers."

Mondelez and lawyers for Salguero did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Salguero, a resident of Anaheim, California, had sought unspecified damages for Mondelez's alleged misstatements and violations of California consumer protection laws.

The case is Salguero v Mondelez International Inc, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 25-02139.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)