Nutella Gets Spanked in Class-Action Suit

Well then Nutella can take it out the the money they paid the Kardashians to endorse it..remember that one?

I think a lot of people are missing the point here. Yes, everyone should be responsible for their own health, but the ultimate claim is false advertising. The ad does make it sound like a health food. Yes - everyone (not just Americans - way to stereotype an entire nation) should pay attention to what they're putting in their bodies, but that doesn't mean a company should be allowed to claim that a sugary spread is healthy.

The other thing - she didn't win - the company settled. So if you're shocked at the payout amount (yes, most of which will go to lawyers, but this is designed so that lawyers will take on cases for classes who cannot afford to pay or are otherwise undesirable) blame the makers of Nutella. They obviously saw a risk and decided to settle the case. They wouldn't have done this if they were sure they would win.

And please do your research - while there have been some frivolous lawsuits (example - McDonald's made me fat - tossed out of court) there have also been some non-frivolous ones (example, McDonald's coffee is too hot - and it was - McDonald's could have settled for medical expenses - but they fought. Testimony came out that they stored it at a level too hot for human consumption, and served it under the assumption that people wouldn't try to drink it right away. The facts of the suit aren't great - she spilled the coffee in her lap - but what if she hadn't - what if she had taken a sip right away and burned her esophagus? Wouldn't be so frivolous then).

On a personal note - from a false advertising standpoint, I think the claim is valid. Look at the ad - they are clearly trying to make it sound like a health food. Yes, people should read labels, but we'd be outraged if McDonald's called a BigMac healthy - so what's the difference here?

The best thing about this thread is all the responses saying that the judge\jury should have thrown out the case and told the woman to actually read the label.

Perhaps the same people should have heeded their own advice and actually read the story and discovered that no judge or jury was involved!

I think the lawyers get about 30% from the settlement or $750,000 BUT they also get attorney's fees from the Nutella people. I believe I read that those are up to $3 million. All in all they are going to make more than the class of "injured" people.

I think you guys are giving lawyers a bad rap here. The whole point of class actions is that no one plaintiff is hurt badly enough to be able to sue on their own, but collectively, there's enough damage the company has to pay up. It's more about making sure the company pays the consequences for doing something wrong than making their customers rich. Without the class action, there's no punishment for doing something wrong and the company gets off scot-free even when it's doing something it shouldn't.

As a future lawyer, I'm definitely not giving them a bad rap.
Your dead on about the purpose of class actions. Despite the fact that typically only lawyers get rich, I think class actions are important to protect consumers. Unfortunately, I assume that Nutella will probably pass off their loss to consumers by raising prices.

I'm on the same page as you and was trying to respond to the myriad of comments of "HOW CAN DIS IDIOT GETZ ALL DAT MONEYZ. TAKE AWAY HER CHILDRENZ" - which I find quite humorous. There is so much criticism about her inability to read a nutrition label to get the facts and some people here can't even read a brief article to get the facts themselves.

I think the lawyers get about 30% from the settlement or $750,000 BUT they also get attorney's fees from the Nutella people. I believe I read that those are up to $3 million. All in all they are going to make more than the class of "injured" people.

I think you guys are giving lawyers a bad rap here. The whole point of class actions is that no one plaintiff is hurt badly enough to be able to sue on their own, but collectively, there's enough damage the company has to pay up. It's more about making sure the company pays the consequences for doing something wrong than making their customers rich. Without the class action, there's no punishment for doing something wrong and the company gets off scot-free even when it's doing something it shouldn't.

As a future lawyer, I'm definitely not giving them a bad rap.
Your dead on about the purpose of class actions. Despite the fact that typically only lawyers get rich, I think class actions are important to protect consumers. Unfortunately, I assume that Nutella will probably pass off their loss to consumers by raising prices.

I'm on the same page as you and was trying to respond to the myriad of comments of "HOW CAN DIS IDIOT GETZ ALL DAT MONEYZ. TAKE AWAY HER CHILDRENZ" - which I find quite humorous. There is so much criticism about her inability to read a nutrition label to get the facts and some people here can't even read a brief article to get the facts themselves.

Hey fellow future-lawyer! Seeing your comment alone, I can see how you weren't actually being judgmental; when I saw it with the other one, it looked more like an agreement, so sorry for misunderstanding.

I feel like I'm in bizarro world in this thread, haha. Here's a whole forum full of posts exactly like the woman in the Nutella case might well have made, but people are acting like she's a complete moron. On the bright side, all the "if I were that judge/on that jury, I would have definitely sided with the company" type comments completely reassure me about my recent decision to switch from litigation/criminal to transactional/IP...

Because reading the label is SO HARD for some people... Ugh...

I understand Nutella isn't the healthiest thing in the world and is obviously not equivalent to an apple, but does that mean it is terribly unhealthy? I grew up on peanut butter sandwiches everyday for lunch, as did most of my friends, none of us were fat because of it or unhealthy. Likewise, I have relatives in Norway that grew up on Nutella sandwiches everyday for lunch - and it wasn't an issue either. It does have a fair bit of carbs, but carbs are essential. You can't go feeding your kids a jar a day, but the same goes for a lot of other foods - moderation. Since my diet started, I like something sweet and I find Nutella is great for that. I put it on some low calorie bread and it feeds a craving while still not affecting my diet and I'm losing over 2lbs a week. Anything can be viewed as healthy or unhealthy in comparison to something else, not to mention portion control. I suspect most people on here base their diet around everything they consume and not just one item. If you get extra carbs here, subtract them somewhere else. Otherwise someone could argue that any item that is high in fat or high in carbs is unhealthy. Coconut is extremely high in fat, but that doesn't mean coconut is unhealthy.

Maybe the sugary cereal companies should stop lying. What if someone put out an ad claiming that cigarettes are part of a balanced breakfast for kids because the nicotine will give them energy? Obviously anyone who believes it would be ridiculous, but wouldn't we want the cigarette manufacturer punished or at the very least stopped?

--sad but true about the lack of personal responsibility especially in the US these days--and then people wonder why their lives are crappy, if they develop no personal power and discipline--

*bump to read later

For the rest of us, who are inundated with a plethora of advertising every single day, we'd prefer that Corporate America not outright lie to us. Have you seen the ads? "Made with skim milk, roasted hazelnuts and a HINT of cocoa". Sounds like a pretty good food choice to me, on the surface.

Just thought I'd point out that every ingredient you listed is an actual ingredient in the product, so I really don't see where the "outright lie" is.

Stop hating on the advertisers. Of course they're not going to give you both sides of the story. That's not their job. Their job is to make the product look good. It is YOUR job to get the other side of the story.

How does someone get away with that. Thats what nutrition, and ingredient labels are for.. WTF!

I love nutella, but im still losing weight.. Its called moderation.

That stuff is gross!!

That stuff is gross!!

Yes, it is.

The lawsuit is more about the false advertising, not that the product itself caused harm.