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Nutella Lawsuit...
I am kind of surprised they won. Can't they read the nutrition labels?
(CBS News) Is Nutella, the popular chocolate-hazelnut spread, actually good for you? A class-action lawsuit over the spread's purported health claims has just been settled, with a judge siding with a parent who says she was duped into believing it was good for her kids.
Nutella-maker Ferrero USA, Inc. will pay out $3.05 million as part of the settlement, with $2.5 million to be divided among consumers who file a claim, the New York Daily News reported.
As part of the settlement, anyone in the U.S. who purchased Nutella between January 1, 2008 and February 3, 2012 (or for Calif. residents between August 1, 2009 and January 23, 2012) can file a claim. People can claim their purchases until July 5, 2012 and expect $4 for a single purchase and up to 5 jars for a maximum award of $20 per household.
NPR reported last year that California mom Athena Hohenberg proposed a class-action suit against Ferrero stating that she had fed her 4-year-old daughter Nutella after seeing advertisements that suggested the spread was part of a healthy breakfast. Hohenberg was reportedly shocked to find out it contained 21 grams of sugar, 200 calories, and 11 grams of fat (3.5 of which are saturated) per serving.
"Nutella was in fact not a 'healthy' 'nutritious' food but instead was the next best thing to a candy bar," read the complaint.
That lawsuit was met with some ridicule across the web by people who were surprised to hear someone thought a chocolate-based spread could be construed as healthy.
"Here's a suggestion for the thousands of other litigious California mothers: Try a little responsible parenting. Try reading the labels and understanding what they mean," read a blog from LA Weekly.
"Nutella isn't the breakfast demon that Hohenberg and others make it out to be, certainly not when consumed as advertised," read a blog from Slate.
But it appears a judge sided with Hohenberg. Ferrero also agreed to change its marketing campaign, modify the Nutella label to state fat and sugar content on the front of the jar and will create new television ads, and change the company website
Re: Nutella Lawsuit...
duped into believing NUTELLA was good for her kid....bwhahahhahahahha!!
Sea Monkeys would have better sense
I don't understand why responsible parenting means companies get to lie about their products. Why can't companies be responsible too?
But it's made with skim milk!
Note: The above is what a very heavyset woman said to her husband in a restaurant, when he inquired as to whether the dessert crepe she was ordering fell within her diet plan. I was
.
I don't think that these sorts of lawsuits are entirely out of line.
People are duped all of the time. How many people realize that a 6 oz serving of blueberry yogurt has over 1.5x the calories of an 8oz serving of Coca Cola and the same amount of sugar? (Breyers Blueberry 160 cals, 27g sugar vs. Coca Cola 100 cals, 27g sugar). Would the average person think that the blueberry yogurt basically = a coke + 1/2 cup of plain yogurt + a couple of blueberries?
Mindless Eating is a good book on this topic. It talks about all of the ways that even smart people (who insist that they aren't easily duped) are influenced by all sorts of external cues. It's pretty naive to think that any individual is more powerful than the multi-million (or is it billion?) dollar efforts out there designed to overcome our better senses and factual information.
What I really hope out of this is that it leads to better food labelling & education. I agree with the yogurt example (thats why I only buy plain, and add fruit) - you have a product where the advertising tells you its healthy, and its yoghurt, so you wouldn't second guess it.
In the case of Nutella, although obvious to MOST people that its not healthy, the ads were fantastic in suggesting it was a great breakfast food. Kinda like jam - it has 0 nutritional value yet the ads suggest otherwise!
Because corporations are people. Except when it comes to personal responsibility. Then they are amoral actors. YWIA. HTH.
Yeah I remember seeing the commercial for the first time and being confused as well. I've never had nutella, nor do I know what it's ingredients are, but the way people always seem to rave about it, assumed it wasn't exactly healthy. When I saw the commercial I thought hmm maybe it isn't so bad? Obviously if I were going to buy it, I would check out the label like I do with all my foods, but for the ad to be so misleading I agree is deceptive.
Were there false nutrition facts listed on Nutella's label?
Also, can someone tell me what was so deceptive about the ad? I don't think I've ever even seen a Nutella ad.
I'm usually not on board with these types of lawsuits at all (it's a fvvcking chocolate spread, common sense?), but in this case I'm pretty certain that Nutella (and most other big food corporations) pay a hefty price to hire people that come up with an algorithim about the best ways to convince people that their product is healthy. Even the biggest nutrtition experts out there can most likely be tricked when they are up against that sort of might.
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I am glad the Nutella people are being held accountable for this. That commercial didn't merely stretch the truth a bit - it was a downright lie. Just because a lot of people knew it wasn't a lie doesn't make it okay for them to flat-out lie that their product is nutritious.
If Coca-Cola comes out with an ad saying that Coke is nutritious, most people wouldn't believe that claim but Coca-Cola shouldn't be able to lie in their advertising just because we know better. If they didn't know they could dupe enough people into believing that, they wouldn't lie like that.
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home Di think this bugs me more than the actual post.
i'm sorta kidding.
So I shouldn't send my kids to school with Nutella and Fluff sandwiches?
Nutella made from hazelnuts protein Fluff-egg whites more portein so it mush be healthy
Above Us Only Sky
Can you find a link to a commercial where they stated that Nutella is "nutritious"? I've seen the ones people usually claim are the issue and the only "lie" I've seen is that it contains a "hint" of cocoa.
This has to be the most delicious lawsuit ever. I want a nutella and banana crepe so bad right now.
I will try. But I am talking about the older commercial than the one currently put out there. The one out there now conveniently removes all language saying that Nutella is actually "healthy" as opposed to "can be part of a healthy breakfast" or similar jargon. I'll take a look.
ETA: Videos I'm looking for have been removed and I'll I'm finding are articles referring to the initial commercial from a few years ago. I'll have to look again later because I have to run to a meeting in a bit.
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home DThis is the one I remember seeing awhile back. It doesn't "lie" necessarily but it is deceptive. It is not aired anymore (at least I haven't seen it) and I can't find the actual commercial on the company website. This is youtube video where someone videotaped the commercial from their tv.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CqU7gQNTog
Yeah, see that is like all the others I remember seeing--the only real lie is the "hint of cocoa". IT doesn't claim it is "nutritious" or "healthy"--it says it can get kids to eat other things that are. I hear it is as "I can dip Brussel Sprouts in Nutella and my kids will eat them."
I guess I view it a little differently. Once you have spread a fatty chocolaty spread on something then in my mind it negates all the healthy things the commercial suggests you could use it on. The moment you spread it on healthy whole wheat toast it really isn't healthy anymore.
Lol. Sorry to disappoint. I get addicted to food very easily so I don't need any temptation!
Exactly. I'm pretty sure most moms who slather chocolate spread on random foods aren't all "ALRIGHT! I feel good about feeding my kids this and sending them to school right afterwards. Nutrition ftw!"
Click me, click me!
I'm confused - did the case settle? Or did a judge make a ruling on the merits? Cause this article makes it seem like both happened, which is sort of impossible.
I'm guessing the parties came to a settlement and then the judge approved it, since that's a requirement for class actions. ...?
My Cooking Blog
This was what I was going to point out.
Nobody "won." Nutella voluntarily chose to settle the case. And yes, the judge granted preliminary approval. My understanding is that final approval has not been given. That means that if you don't like it, you can write to the court and protest.
And FYI, the nutella commercials may not be deceptive if you know what nutella is. If you've never had Nutella, how on earth would you know from the ad that it was sugary chocolate spread?
By actually looking at the nutritional information and ingredients?
But I openly admit that since I can't remember LBN (life before Nutella), I have a hard putting in mindset of people that haven't ever heard of it. And I've seen enough commercials for unhealthy cr)p claiming it is "part of a healthy" meal, that I automatically think it's bad for you when I hear those words--I remember commercials using that phrase for cereals that were mainly sugar when I was a teenager.
Are you united with the CCOKCs?
Of course people should look at the labels, but the lawsuit is about the advertising not lying on the packaging.
As someone who has never had nutella, the emphasis on hazelnut spread with a "hint" of cocoa sounds like an alternative to peanut butter or some other reasonably healthy spread. I would not have assumed chocolatey goodness by watching the description in the commercial. Now knowing what it is I of course look at the commercials differently and roll my eyes as I would if they attempted to imply Lucky Charms was a balanced breakfast.