Nips Class Action Alleges Caramel Candies Don’t Contain Enough Milk Fat

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Nips Caramel Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: A Nips caramel candy customer is suing maker Ferrara Candy Company.
• Why: The customer says the company falsely represents that the candies are made of caramel when the product doesn’t contain enough milk fat to be considered caramel.
• Where: The lawsuit was filed in an Illinois federal court.

Nips caramel candies do not contain enough milk fat to legally be marketed as “caramel,” a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Kianna Gardner filed the class action complaint against Nips maker Ferrara Candy Company Mar. 10 in an Illinois federal court, alleging violations of state and federal consumer laws.

Ferrara Candy Company makes and sells a hard caramel candy under the Nips brand described as “Rich & Creamy,” Gardner says. 

The representation as “Caramel” and “Rich & Creamy” causes consumers to expect a confection with a certain amount of milk fat, the lawsuit says. However, despite describing the caramel candy as “Rich & Creamy,” the product does not contain butter or cream, nor does it contain more than a de minimis amount of milk fat.

“However, the representations are false, deceptive, and misleading, because the product’s fat content is almost exclusively from vegetable fat,” the class action lawsuit alleges. 

The lawsuit refers to a number of dictionary definitions that define caramel as being a candy that contains milk or cream.

“All legitimate and credible definitions of caramel candy include cream,” Gardner says.

She adds that substituting vegetable fat for dairy fat causes a confection to provide less satiety, which customers look for when buying caramels.

Nips Fats Allegedly Come From Coconut Oil

While the ingredients do include whole and skim (nonfat) milk, the product’s fat content is almost exclusively provided by hydrogenated coconut oil, Gardner says.

“The value of the Product that Plaintiff purchased was materially less than its value as represented by Defendant,” the lawsuit states.

Gardner says the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million. 

She’s looking to represent a class of Illinois residents who purchased the product, plus a multistate class of consumers from Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Virginia, Georgia and West Virginia.

She’s suing for violation of state consumer laws, breach of contract, fraud and unjust enrichment. Gardner is seeking certification of the class action lawsuit, fees, costs, damages and a jury trial.

Last year, Ferrara came to a $3.7 million settlement with consumers who alleged Ferrara and Nestle USA both intentionally underfilled their cardboard candy boxes to deceive potential consumers into thinking more product was in the box than there actually was. 

Would you expect there to be a certain amount of fats from milk or cream in a caramel? Let us know in the comments. 

The plaintiff is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates, P.C.

The Ferrara Candy Company Class Action Lawsuit is Kianna Gardner v. Ferrara Candy Company, Case No. 1:22-cv-01272, in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division.

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