Fiber One Bars Packaging is Significantly Empty, Lawsuit Says

General Mills’ Fiber One bars are packaged with too much empty space, according to a civil action filed by two California counties’ district attorneys.

According to this Fiber One false advertising lawsuit, the amount of empty space within the packaging for Fiber One bars, known in the trade as “non-functional slack fill,” is so great as to be misleading.

The packaging could give consumers the impression that they’re getting more product than is actually inside the box, the district attorneys claim.

Slack fill is common within food product packaging, but an excess of slack fill can mislead consumers. For that reason, California law regulates the ways companies use slack fill to prevent them from deceptively selling consumers empty space when they think they’re getting a product instead.

The district attorneys say that General Mills packages Fiber One bars with a “significant void space above the actual product in its container.”

That void space is not visible from outside the packaging, preventing consumers from knowing exactly what they’re paying for until after they’ve purchased the product and opened the package.

By packaging Fiber One bars with so much slack fill, General Mills violates several California consumer protection laws, the district attorneys claim. Under California’s Business and Professions Code, businesses are generally prohibited from making representations to the public that are untrue or misleading.

The district attorneys say that Fiber One bars packaging misleads the public by implying that there’s more product inside the package than is actually there and by overstating the volume of the product’s packaging.

This Fiber One lawsuit also accuses General Mills of violating California laws against unfair competition. According to the district attorneys, the non-functional slack fill inside packages of Fiber One gives General Mills an unfair competitive advantage over competitor products that do not use such allegedly misleading packaging.

The district attorneys are asking for a court order barring General Mills from making any further representations and business practices in violation of sections of the California Business and Professions Code.

They also seek a civil penalty of $2,500 for each act of false or misleading advertising or for each act of unlawful or unfair business practice committed by General Mills, plus court costs and any other relief the court sees fit to grant.

Plaintiffs’ counsel includes Yolo County District Attorney Jeff W. Reisig and Supervising District Attorney Larry Barlly of the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, and Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosell and Assistant District Attorney Edward T. Browne of the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office.

The Fiber One Bars False Advertising Lawsuit is The People of the State of California v. General Mills Inc., Case No. cv-16-2178, in the Superior Court of California, County of Yolo.