$5.2M Ghirardelli Chocolate Class Action Settlement Approved

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A California federal judge on Friday granted final approval to a $5.2 million class action settlement with Ghirardelli Chocolate Company over claims it sold chocolate products that were falsely labeled as “all natural” and as containing white chocolate.

Under the Ghirardelli chocolate settlement, consumers can submit a Claim Form to receive $1.50 for each bag of Ghirardelli white baking chips and $0.75 for any of the other eligible Ghirardelli products they purchased between Aug. 17, 2008 and Oct. 2, 2014. The list of eligible products includes dozens of milk, dark and white chocolate products sold as chips, squares and bars.

Detailed claim filing instructions can be found here in our Open Class Action Settlements section.

The deadline to file a claim is 30 days after Final Approval of the class action settlement, which was entered by U.S. District Judge Laurel Beeler on Feb. 20, 2015. That means the claim filing deadline will be no later than March 20, 2015.

Class Action Lawsuit Details

The Ghirardelli chocolate class action lawsuit (entitled Scott Miller, et al. v. Ghirardelli Chocolate Company) accuses the chocolate maker of violating consumer protection laws by labeling its Classic White Baking Chips as containing white chocolate, even though they did not. It further alleges that some Ghirardelli chocolate products (including milk and dark chocolate) were falsely labeled as “all natural” when they allegedly contained un-natural ingredients.

Ghirardelli denies the allegations and any wrongdoing but agreed to a $5.2 million class action settlement in August 2014 to resolve the litigation.

Judge Beeler granted preliminary approval to the deal in early October 2014.

Under the terms of the class action settlement, Ghirardellli has agreed to make labeling changes to the 72 products challenged by the false advertising allegations.

The deal will also compensate consumers who purchased eligible products up to a max reimbursement of $24 without proof of purchase, and a full refund to those who present proof of purchase. These awards may be reduced pro rata if the total value of claims exceeds the amount available in the Ghirardelli class action settlement fund.

If there is money left over in the common fund, it will be donated equally to four organizations: Consumers Union, The National Consumer Law Center, and the food science departments at University of California-Davis, and Florida State University.

The Ghirardelli False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Scott Miller, et al. v. Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, Case No. 3:12-cv-04936, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.

UPDATE: On Feb. 15, 2016, according to the Ghirardelli settlement website, Class Members who filed a valid and timely claim for this settlement should receive a check on or before March 19, 2016.

UPDATE 2: On Mar. 15, 2016, Top Class Actions readers started receiving checks worth as much as $33 from the Ghirardelli chocolate class action lawsuit settlement.