Paul Tassin  |  October 13, 2017

Category: Consumer News

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Fruit-Bliss-Organic-Deglet-Nour-DatesAn excess of empty space inside packages of Fruit Bliss dried fruit deceives consumers as to the amount of fruit inside, according to a California plaintiff.

Plaintiff Anthony Buso is suing defendant Penguin Trading Inc., the business behind the Fruit Bliss brand of dried and packaged fruit.

Buso claims Fruit Bliss fruit is packaged in a pouch that contains as much as 80 percent empty space, misleading purchasers into thinking they’re getting more product than they actually are.

Brooklyn-based Penguin Trading markets the Fruit Bliss brand of imported apricots, figs, dates and dried plums. This dried fruit comes in 5-ounce portions, packaged in an opaque plastic pouch.

Buso says he bought a pack of Fruit Bliss Organic Deglet Nour Dates from a San Diego store during the first half of this year. When he opened the pack, he says he was disappointed to find that it contained much less fruit than he expected to find. Almost 80 percent of the inside of the package was empty space, he claims.

Buso argues that extra space constitutes “non-functional slack-fill,” an excess of packaged space that is considered misleading under California consumer protection law.

Under the California Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, product packaging is supposed to “enable consumers to obtain accurate information as to the quantity of the contents and should facilitate value comparisons.” The CFPLA states that opaque packaging, like the Fruit Bliss pouches Buso described here, can be considered misleading if they contain non-functional slack-fill.

Slack-fill may be permissible under this law if it serves any of a short list of legitimate functions. A larger package may be necessary to meet certain labeling requirements, for example, or the package may be a reusable container intended for further use after the food is consumed.

But the slack-fill in Fruit Bliss pouches serves none of those permissible purposes, Buso claims. He alleges it serves only to give a false impression of the volume of dried fruit contained inside. He claims Fruit Bliss purposely uses an opaque pouch to prevent consumers from seeing how little fruit the pouch actually contains.

Consumer research shows that using a deceptively large package makes a consumer more likely to buy the product, according to this Fruit Bliss class action lawsuit. He quotes Cornell professor Brian Wansink, who says that “[f]aced 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.”

Buso’s proposed plaintiff Class would include all California residents who, during the applicable statutory limitations period, made retail purchases of Fruit Bliss Organic products that were packages with “non-functional slack-fill.”

He is asking the court for injunctive relief to prevent Penguin Trading from engaging in such conduct in the future. He also seeks an award of compensatory and punitive damages, restitution and all other forms of equitable monetary relief, and court costs and reasonable attorney fees, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.

Buso is represented by attorney Scott J. Ferrell of Pacific Trial Attorneys.

The Fruit Bliss Deceptive Packaging Class Action Lawsuit is Buso v. Penguin Trading Inc., Case No. 2:17-cv-07025, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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2 thoughts onFruit Bliss Class Action Says Date Packages are 80% Empty

  1. SHIRLEY MARCIEL says:

    please add me

  2. Karrie says:

    Please add me

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