Pure Protein Class Action Says 100% Whey Containers Intentionally Underfilled

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In a class action lawsuit, a consumer claims that packages of Pure Protein 100% Whey contain too much empty space, and says that the packaging violates California consumer protection law.

Plaintiff Matthew Matic says that he purchased the Pure Protein 100% Whey in May 2015 in Los Angeles. He claims that he purchased the product believing that the package would be mostly full, taking the package size to be an indication of the amount of product he would receive. However, Matic alleges that after he purchased the product and opened it, he discovered that the Pure Protein package was only 60 percent full, leaving 40 percent empty space.

He claims that he and other consumers were misled by the packaging, because he relied on the packaging to make his purchasing decision.

According to the Pure Protein class action lawsuit, consumers barely look at the amount listed as in the package, looking mostly at the size of the container to make their purchasing decision.

In fact, consumers spend mere seconds making their purchasing decisions, alleges the plaintiff, and studies have found that they are likely to choose a larger container over a smaller container, even if the two containers contain the same amount of product, because they believe that the larger container is the better deal.

United States Nutrition Inc., the makers of Pure Protein, knew this, alleges the class action lawsuit, and attempted to use this fact to encourage consumers to purchase their products over comparable products in smaller boxes.

Matic seeks damages on behalf of himself and all other consumers who purchased Pure Protein 100% Whey and were allegedly similarly misled by United States Nutrition Inc.

The plaintiff says that had he known that the Pure Protein container was only 60 percent full, he would not have purchased the product or would not have paid as much for it.

The Pure Protein packaging class action lawsuit alleges that United States Nutrition Inc.’s packaging of their Pure Protein product violates California consumer protection law because the empty space in the package does not serve a purpose and misleads consumers.

Matic notes in the class action lawsuit that California law does allow for some empty space, or “slack fill” in packages, but only if that empty space serves a purpose or is unavoidable. Examples include padding the product for protection, if the extra space results when the product settles, or if the space results when the package is sealed by a machine.

Allegedly, the empty space in the Pure Protein does not serve one of the allowed functions according to the law, and is therefore “non-functional slack fill.” According to Matic, the non-functional slack fill in the Pure Protein container is non-functional and serves no purpose other than to mislead consumers making purchasing decisions.

Matthew Matic is represented by the Ronald Marron, Michael T. Houchin, and Tania Barbaie of the Law Offices of Ronald A. Marron and by Scott J. Ferrell of Pacific Trial Attorneys.

The Pure Protein Packaging Class Action Lawsuit is Matthew Matic v. United States Nutrition Inc., Case No. 2:18-cv-09592, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.