Hershey Class Action Says Kit Kat Doesn’t Contain Real White Chocolate

A class action lawsuit has been filed against The Hershey Company alleging that their “white” Kit Kat candy bar misleads consumers into thinking they are getting actual white chocolate, when in fact, there isn’t cocoa butter present in the product.

Plaintiff Eva Rivas claims that when she bought the Kit Kat candy bar labeled as “white” she was expecting to eat white chocolate.

She alleges that there is a lack of cocoa butter in the candy bar, which means there is no white chocolate ingredient.

“The Products are uniformly marketed as ‘white’ alternatives to the traditional, milk chocolate and dark chocolate Kit-Kats,” the Kit Kat class action lawsuit alleges.

“Defendant has taken affirmative steps for consumers to believe the products contain white chocolate and has intentionally failed to correct the misimpressions,” the plaintiff asserts.

The Kit Kat class action lawsuit states that Rivas did not have any reason to think that the candy bar did not contain real white chocolate because the cacao fat was replaced with other ingredients, such as palm, shea, and sunflower oils.

“Had Plaintiff and Class members known Defendant’s Product did not contain real white chocolate, understood as containing a significant amount of cacao fat, they would not have bought the Product or would have paid less for it,” the Kit Kat class action lawsuit states.

Rivas lists all of the ingredients in the white Kit Kat bar to prove that there is no white chocolate ingredient. She states that the attempt to mislead consumers is “food fraud,” which she claims is increasing across the world.

The Kit Kat class action lawsuit alleges that “the products are intended to be viewed and understood as white chocolate, on the labels, point-of-sale marketing, retailers’ display ads and promotion, television and radio ads and websites of third-parties.”

The Hershey class action lawsuit points to a post on Twitter and references a news article where the writers refer to the new “white” Kit Kat candy bar as white chocolate. Of the numerous responses to the Twitter post, many mention that the Kit Kat bar does not contain cacao fat.

The Kit Kat class action lawsuit also mentions a website dedicated to food that was also confused about whether or not the white candy bar contains white chocolate.

Rivas points to numerous state consumer protection acts, of which she states Hershey is in violation.

In addition, she accuses Hershey of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of express warranty and implied warranty of merchantability, and unjust enrichment.

The Kit Kat class action lawsuit states that the candy bar used to contain actual white chocolate, but the cacao fat has been removed, but the overall marketing of the product remains the same, including the “color scheme” of the label.

“The totality of the representations – marketing campaigns, product placement, defendant’s failure to correct affirmative misrepresentations of the Products where it is described as ‘white chocolate’ by third-parties whom it has the authority and ability to correct, and the fact that many years ago, the Products did contain cacao fat and were correctly identified as ‘white chocolate’ – indicate the Products are misrepresented,” the Kit Kat class action lawsuit argues.

The plaintiff is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The Kit Kat White Chocolate Candy Bar Class Action Lawsuit is Rivas v. The Hershey Company, Case No. 1:19-cv-03379, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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