Golda ice cream chain faces huge class action suit over ‘sugar-free’ flavors

Coffee and hazelnut offerings actually contained 13 times the amount of sugar allowed for flavors labeled sugarless, lawsuit claims

The Central District Court in Lod has accepted and will hear a class action lawsuit against major ice cream chain Golda, seeking hundreds of millions in compensation from the company for allegedly misleading customers regarding its sugar-free flavors.

The lawsuit alleges that for several years, the company sold two flavors — coffee and hazelnut — that were labeled as sugar-free, when in fact they had 13 times the amount of sugar allowed for such labeling under regulations (6.6 grams per 100 grams, compared to a limit of 0.5 grams per 100).

Golda claimed in its defense that any reasonable customer would understand that “no sugar” meant “no added sugar.” Judge Iris Rabinovitch-Brun rejected this assertion. She also questioned why, in that case, the stores could not have used signage reading, “No added sugar.”

“The claim that the products were consumed as a result of the alleged misrepresentation is one that warrants examination as part of the lawsuit,” she wrote. “There is grounds to assume that the ice cream was purchased and consumed under the impression that it was sugar-free. There is reason to believe that the sugar content of the product is a material consideration for a consumer purchasing ice cream labeled ‘sugar-free’ at an ice cream shop where the vast majority of the ice creams are not sugar-free.”

Golda is one of Israel’s best-known ice cream chains, with well over 100 branches across the country. It has temporarily removed the flavors from its stores, according to Channel 12.

The lawyers leading the lawsuit assess the damages, if proven at court, could come to some NIS 350 million ($117 million). The class action includes anyone who purchased products labeled “sugar-free” at any location of Golda or its sister company Anita, or from those stores’ online presences, according to Channel 12.

“The decision [to hear the case] sends a clear message to the food industry: anyone who labels a product ‘sugar-free’ must stand behind those words and their plain meaning, attorney Ori Eldar told Channel 12. “Consumers seeking to avoid sugar, including people with diabetes and those following specific diets, are entitled to rely on the sign in front of them.”

The court is also requiring that Golda pay NIS 40,000 (some $13,300) plus value-added tax for legal fees, Channel 12 reported.