Who Owns Dannon?

Danone North America is a Certified B Corporation, having received certification in 2018 and been recertified in 2024. B Corp certification is administered by B Lab and requires verified standards across governance, worker treatment, community impact, and environmental performance. Danone North America is one of the largest B Corp certified food companies in the United States.

Danone S.A. participates in the Science Based Targets initiative and has published emissions reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement. The company has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Danone reports progress annually through its Universal Registration Document and integrated sustainability reports.

Dannon products are not certified organic, though Danone North America offers organic products through its Horizon Organic brand. Dannon yogurt is not certified cruelty-free or vegan, as these certifications are not standard for dairy yogurt products. The brand does not carry Leaping Bunny or PETA cruelty-free certification.

Danone has faced criticism regarding plastic packaging waste from its yogurt containers. The company has committed to making 100% of its packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025, though progress toward this target has not been independently verified as of June 2026.

Dannon and its parent Danone North America have been involved in several recalls and legal proceedings:

In February 2024, Danone US LLC recalled 15 cases (90 units) of Dannon Plain Yogurt in 32-ounce containers due to potential contamination with sanitizer. The affected product was sold at retail level in Georgia with an expiration date of March 13, 2024. The FDA classified the recall as Class II. No illnesses were reported.

In July 2025, Danone US initiated the largest recall in its North American history, recalling approximately 2.5 million cases of YoCrush yogurt across all 17 varieties sold nationwide. The recall was triggered by transparent plastic pieces measuring 7 to 25 mm with potentially sharp edges found in the dome topper packaging. The FDA classified this as a Class II recall. The contamination was isolated to the separately sealed topper packaging, not the yogurt itself. No injuries were reported. Danone offered refunds to affected consumers.

YoCrush has appeared in four separate recall events between 2019 and 2025, including undeclared allergens (wheat) in 2023 and 2024, and undeclared peanuts and eggs in 2019. The repeat wheat allergen violations in 2023 and 2024 involving the same product suggest insufficient corrective action after the first recall.

In 2009, Dannon settled a class action lawsuit for $35 million over advertising claims that Activia and DanActive yogurt products provided digestive health benefits. The plaintiffs alleged that Dannon overstated the scientific evidence supporting its probiotic health claims. Under the settlement, Dannon agreed to modify its advertising language and remove certain health claims from packaging. The settlement required court approval and was finalized in 2010.

A separate class action lawsuit filed in 2020 alleged that Dannon's vanilla yogurt was deceptively labeled because the vanilla flavor was derived from non-vanilla bean sources. The case was dismissed by a federal court in 2022, with the judge ruling that reasonable consumers would not expect "vanilla" on a yogurt label to mean exclusively vanilla bean extract.