Whole Foods 365 Long Grain & Wild Rice Excessive Slack Fill Class Action

Consumers may not look closely at labeling information when they pick items off their supermarket shelves. The complaint for this class action alleges that Whole Foods Market Group, Inc. takes advantage of this superficial attention by using a box for its 365 brand Long Grain & Wild Rice—Rice Pilaf that is too large for the amount of rice pilaf it contains. The complaint alleges that the box contains too much nonfunctional slack fill and is in reality about half empty.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The Illinois Class is all persons in Illinois who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
• The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Ohio, Georgia, North Dakota, and Oklahoma who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.

Not surprisingly, customers tend to prefer larger boxes of goods. The complaint alleges, “Faced with a large and a smaller box, consumers choose the larger box, thinking it is a better value.” It also claims, “Studies show approximately 80 percent of consumers do not look at label information, especially the net weight and servings.” They do, however, expect that the amount of food or other product in the packaging bears some resemblance to the size of the box.

According to the complaint, Whole Foods makes much of its commitment to sustainability and the environment. One of the promises it makes to its customers, the complaint claims, is “We are committed to reduced packaging, composting and water and energy conservation.”

The complaint shows an image of the box, with a tape measure beside it, showing it is 6.75 inches high. It alleges that reasonable consumers expect it to contain a substantial amount of rice.

But the complaint then shows an image of the box with its front cut out, with the rice packet standing inside it, with a tape measure showing the height of the pile of product. It claims that “over 50% of the box is empty space, because the rice and seasoning packages correspond to 3.25 inches on the tape measure.”

Valid reasons exist for companies to leave extra room—known as slack fill—in their product packaging. For example, potato chips are sold in bags that contain a significant amount of air, to keep the potato chips from being crushed.

But the complaint alleges that the slack fill in the rice pilaf boxes is nonfunctional. It reviews each of six “safe harbor” situations that permit slack fill and asserts that none of them apply.

The complaint alleges that box sizes may be matched to shelf heights. It claims that the excess packaging of the rice pilaf product violates Whole Foods’ professed commitment to the environment, because it uses more material to form the larger package and leaves more material to be disposed of after use.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, Excessive Slack Fill