We all know that chip bags have more air than chips in them, but have you taken a look inside your boxes of chocolate?
One Missouri man has filed a federal class action lawsuit against Hershey's for under-filling their candy boxes.
He is seeking 'monetary damages' for 'misleading' packaging of their Whoppers and Reese's Pieces boxes.
It alleges that they under-fill the Whoppers boxes by 41% and the Reese's Pieces boxes by 29%.
Initially, Hershey's attempted to have the case dismissed, with attorneys arguing that "consumers are well aware of the fact that substantially all commercial packaging contains some empty space."
While that is true, how much empty space is reasonable to protect the product without wasting packing resources?
Find out what the judge said about the case on the next page.
Robert Bratton who filed the lawsuit, claims that this extra space is not necessary to protect the product inside. Unlike fragile potato chips, which need the space not to get crushed during shipment, this product doesn't need the extra space.
So if this product is sold in both plastic bag and boxes, why under-fill the boxes?
The company sees nothing wrong with this packaging because the number of candies and weight are printed on the outside of the box.
"It is not possible to view the product packaging without also seeing the net weight and quantity disclosures," the brand stated. Even further elaborating that, "any consumer would recognize immediately upon picking up a box of Reese's Pieces or Whoppers that its contents rattle noticeably and audibly with every movement."
Bratton and his attorneys note that, "The average consumer spends a mere 13 seconds making an in-store purchasing decision. That decision is heavily dependent on a product's packaging, and particularly the package dimensions."
The case was not dismissed, with U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey ruled that Bratton and his team had, "plausibly alleged, at minimum, that the packaging unfairly suggests the boxes contain more product than they actually do."
Who knows, maybe we'll all get some free chocolate out of this.