Jujyfruits Class Action Says Candy Boxes are Almost Half Empty

Ferrara Candy Co. was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it misrepresents the number of Jujyfruits in a package.

Lead plaintiff Thomas Iglesias says he purchased a 5-ounce box of Jujyfruits at a movie theater in San Francisco. The plaintiff says he was surprised when he opened the opaque box only to discover it was partially empty, otherwise known as “slack-fill.”

The plaintiff alleges that he and other purchasers were deceived into thinking Jujyfruit boxes are full of delicious candy by the products’ packaging.

The Ferrara Candy class action lawsuit claims a number of products contain the same deficiency, including Jujyfruits®, Lemonhead®, RedHots®, Trolli®, Chuckles®, Black Forest Gummi®, Jawbuster/Jawbreaker®, Brach’s®, Super Bubble®, Rainblo®, and Atomic Fireball® because they are all packaged and sold in opaque boxes.

According to the class action lawsuit, “[t]he average consumer spends only 13 seconds to make an in-store purchasing decision. That decision is heavily dependent on a product’s packaging, and particularly the package dimensions.”

The plaintiff points to a study that says “Faced with a large box and a smaller box, both with the same amount of product inside . . . consumers are apt to choose the larger box because they think it’s a better value.”

Iglesias also alleges that in a movie theater setting he and other potential Class Members do not have “a reasonable opportunity” to review the quantity contained, for example, the net weight or serving disclosures on the package. This is because the glass showcases used for theater concessions don’t allow consumers a chance to review the labeling before making a purchase.

“Even if Plaintiff and other consumers of the Product had a reasonable opportunity to review prior to the point of sale other representations of quantity like net weight or serving disclosures, such as consumers who purchased the Product at a retail outlet, they did not and would not have reasonably understood or expected it to translate to a quantity of candy product meaningfully different from their expectation of a quantity of candy product commensurate with the size of the box,” continues the plaintiff in his complaint.

According to the Jujyfruits class action, the plaintiff “would not have purchased the Product had he known the Product contained slack-fill which serves no functional or lawful purpose.” Further, the plaintiff claims that his own investigation shows that Ferrara “uniformly under-fills the Product’s boxes, rendering an extraordinary 41% of each box slack-fill.”

The plaintiff alleges that by under filling its candy boxes, Ferrara violates California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising, and Unfair Competition laws.

Ferrara was hit with a similar class action lawsuit earlier this year by a plaintiff in Missouri who alleged the Red Hots she purchased a Walmart were under filled.

Iglesias seeks damages and an injunction to stop Ferrara from under filling, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.

The plaintiff is represented by Ryan J. Clarkson, Shireen M. Clarkson, and Shalini M. Dogra of Clarkson Law Firm PC.

The Jujyfruit Class Action Lawsuit is Iglesias v. Ferrara Candy Co., Case No. 3:17-cv-00849-EDL, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On May 10, 2018, Ferrara Candy Co. agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of packaging Jujyfruits and other candies with excessive amounts of empty space, leading consumers to believe they are purchasing more candy than they actually receive.

UPDATE 2: The Ferrara Candy Co. slack fill class action settlement website is not available.  Check out settlement details and get the claim form here.

UPDATE 3: On Nov. 12, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail worth up to $16.20. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!