Chobani must face a lawsuit accusing it of misleading consumers with its "zero sugar" label, as the product contains the natural sweetener allulose.

A federal appeals court judge is reviving a 2025 lawsuit against the yogurt giant, which had been dismissed by a district court. The judge allowed the case to proceed after the FDA filed an amicus brief stating that allulose falls within the statutory definition of sugar, which includes all monosaccharides.

Chobani's zero-sugar yogurt contains 4 grams of allulose per serving. Federal regulations require that foods labeled as sugar-free contain less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving.

Conflict between FDA enforcement guidance and legal interpretation

Chobani argued that the FDA's 2020 enforcement guidance stated that, until further rulemaking and studies on the sweetener's interaction with the human body, the agency would not count allulose toward sugar content for determining label compliance.

However, in its amicus brief to the court, the FDA stated that it has not issued rules on allulose and that its enforcement guidance should not be interpreted as shielding companies from consumer lawsuits.

Chobani's response and position

In a statement, a Chobani spokesperson said that allulose does not add calories, raise blood sugar, or cause tooth decay like traditional sugar.

"While we respect but disagree with the appellate court's decision to overturn the dismissal, we look forward to presenting further arguments to the district court," the spokesperson said.

Next steps in the case

The case will proceed to discovery, where plaintiffs Jason and Abigail Franco must prove that a reasonable consumer could be misled by Chobani's labeling.

"Perhaps consumers were not deceived by Chobani's product because their promise of sugar is not understood to include allulose," the judge wrote in the ruling. "But how a reasonable consumer would view Chobani's label and make purchasing decisions based on it is a factual question that cannot be answered at this stage."