
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, November 22, 1994                   TAG: 9411230063
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

'LOW-FAT' YOGURT WASN'T LOW ENOUGH

Low-fat Haagen-Dazs? In several instances, it really was too good to be true, the Federal Trade Commission says.

Haagen-Dazs Co., which built its reputation on rich, creamy frozen desserts, agreed Monday to settle FTC charges that it made false and misleading statements about its frozen yogurt products. The company, based in Teaneck, N.J., last year advertised its frozen yogurt products as ``low fat'' and ``98 percent fat free.'' Also, it said its frozen yogurt bars contained only 100 calories and one gram of fat.

The FTC said seven of the company's nine frozen yogurt flavors were not low-fat - defined by the Food and Drug Administration as having three grams of fat or less. Some of them had as many as 12 grams of fat per serving, the agency said. And three of its eight flavors of frozen yogurt bars - cherry chocolate fudge, vanilla chocolate crunch and coffee chocolate crunch - contained as many as 230 calories per serving, not the 100 calories the ads claimed.

Recent studies have shown that claims of low fat and low cholesterol are those most sought by consumers who read food ads and labels. And claims of low fat can mean hundreds of millions of extra dollars in sales.

``The baby boomers are reaching the age where everything tends to drop out, wear out and spread out,'' said Jeff Nedelman, a spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America. ``They are more nutritionally aware."

by CNB