Back in 2017, we showed you how those outrageously priced boxes of candy you get at movie theaters were only partially filled. (See original story). It is called “slack fill” when packages have nonfunctional empty space in them to give the consumer the impression that the package contains more content than it actually does.
Now, four years and several lawsuits later, a settlement has been reached. If you bought a cardboard box of Raisinets®, Buncha Crunch®, Butterfinger Bites®, Tollhouse Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels®, Rainbow Nerds®, SweeTarts®, Spree®, Gobstopper®, Sno-Caps®, and Runts® candy between February 9, 2013 and September 23, 2021, you are entitled to an up to $8 refund (50 cents per box).
The deadline for filing a claim is December 27, 2021.
Going forward, the settlement requires Ferrera (the manufacturer of most of the products in question) to fill a larger percentage of each package or provide some other statement on the box regarding the amount of candy inside.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Each of the Ferrara and Ferrero Defendants may choose, in their sole discretion, the specific measures to take to achieve these aims, which may include, for example: (i) including an actual size depiction of an individual piece of the Covered Product’s candy accompanied by the term “actual size†on the product label, (ii) providing a fill line on the product label, (iii) targeting a fill level for the packaging that, measured from the top of the candy, with carton sides held rigid, would be higher than the current fill level, provided that such fill level does not interfere with the functioning of any container reseal mechanism; or (iv) including any other label statement or image, in addition to the net quantity of contents statement, that provides a piece count, volume or amount.
Of course, leaving the remedy of how to correct their past practices to the company itself may result in the least effective method to benefit customers.
