Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snack Packs Unfairly Filled: Class Action Lawsuit

Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks are in the center of a class action lawsuit alleging unfair business practices when it comes to how the snack is packaged.

Plaintiff Darren Clevenger filed the class action lawsuit after realizing there was something off about the box of Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks he bought at a nearby Walmart.

Even though the products were in the same size box, Clevenger said when he compared Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks to non-premium varieties, there were two fewer pouches inside. 

The class action lawsuit alleges packaging Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks this way adds up to unlawful slack-fill, violating California’s consumer and unfair competition laws.  

“Clevenger suffered injury … because the boxes were illegally slack-filled,” the class action lawsuit claims. 

Slack-fill, a method manufacturers use to package items in larger containers and then “filling” the space, is allowed in certain instances, the plaintiffs said, but laws require slack-fill to be “functional.” 

Clevenger says he “overpaid” and “acquired less than he would have if the same packages had not contained nonfunctional slack-fill.”

Plaintiffs allege the makers of Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks violate laws prohibiting the use of slack-fill in their products because there’s no need to do so. 

The class action lawsuit contends slack-fill is allowed in certain instances to be considered functional by both the FDA and the state of California. Slack-fill can be used to keep the product from settling during shipping. It can also be used to protect the product and if needed for a specific purpose. 

Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks packaging doesn’t employ slack-fill for any of the appropriate reasons, according to the class action lawsuit. 

Plaintiffs make clear in the class action lawsuit against Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks that these claims solely target California Unfair Competition Law and the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act. 

Clevenger and the Class are “not assert[ing] any claims based on misrepresentation,” according to the class action lawsuit. 

The plaintiffs concede the weights of Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks are properly displayed in labeling.

However, since the different products are all boxed in the same manner, this “leads consumers to believe they are receiving a greater quantity of the food than is in the package,” the plaintiffs said. 

The class action lawsuit elaborates on this difference. “The boxes with ten pouches have a net weight of 9 oz., whereas the box with eight pouches have a net weight of 6.4 oz.,” Clevenger said, adding the non-premium snacks had “33% more content by volume.” 

“The FDA deems a product containing nonfunctional slack fill to be ‘misbranded’ within the meaning of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act,” the plaintiffs said. 

Out of the hundreds and hundreds of food-related class action lawsuits, some 10% to 12% are related to slack-fill claims, Vox reports, including a recent $750,000 fine against Ghirardelli and Russell Stover and their “misleading” candy boxes.   

“Consumers have the right to expect full value in their purchases,” Yolo County, California District Attorney Jeff Reisig said, regarding the Ghirardelli fine. 

The legal action, initially filed in Orange County Superior Court, has been removed to a federal California court.

Have you purchased Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks? Let us know in the comments below. 

Counsel representing the plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit are Anthony Lanza, Robert J. Stein III and Ramin T. Montakab of Divincenzo Schoenfield Stein and Lanza & Smith, PLC.

The Welch’s Reduced Sugar Fruit Snacks Class Action Lawsuit is Clevenger v. Welch Foods Inc., et al., Case No. 8:20-cv-01859-CJC-JDE, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division. 

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