Frozen Yogurt Maker Agrees to Amend Labels : Consumers: Oregon firm settles D.A. suit by dropping nonfat claim and filling cartons to full pint.

In a minor victory for truth in advertising and for dieters, an Oregon frozen yogurt company has agreed to drop the nonfat label from products that in fact were chock-full of fatty nuts and chocolate chips, an Orange County prosecutor said Thursday.

Without admitting wrongdoing, Junction City-based Thousand Stars Inc. also agreed to stop labeling containers that hold only 15 ounces of yogurt as containing one pint. From now on, the company will accurately label those cartons, and will fill to a full 16 ounces the pint-sized cartons.

The agreements came this week as part of a settlement of a consumer protection lawsuit filed by the Orange County district attorney in March in Orange County Superior Court. The suit accused the company of engaging in unfair business practices, Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrea Burke said.

“This is important because it ensures that consumers will get exactly what they pay for,” Burke said. “It also puts a stop to practices that were giving the company an unfair advantage over other companies that were notifying customers of fat content or who were filling their containers properly.”

Joseph L. Golden, a Los Angeles-based attorney for the company, said the company never intended to mislead or shortchange consumers.

Golden said containers were filled with less than 16 ounces because of production errors.

He said the company still maintains that it has always used the nonfat label correctly.

A 1994 federal law prohibits food companies from basing fat content labels on just the dairy product, as the company had done. Companies now must disclose the fat content of the product as a whole.

Burke said the company informally agreed to follow the new law last year, and began changing its practices. The company also agreed to pay $14,000 in civil penalties and reimbursement of the cost of investigation, Burke said.