Nutella settles lawsuit over health claims (apparently chocolate spread is not, in fact, health food)

Apparently the world of tasty hazelnut spreads can get pretty litigious. Ferrero, the company behind the sweet, sweet chocolate and hazelnut paste Nutella, agreed recently to a $3 million settlement in order to end four class-action suits filed by a group of American mothers. They claimed the company used misleading ads to portray their sugar-laden product as healthy. Exhibit A: this commercial, where a harried mom feeds her kids the spread on multigrain toast and it’s supposed to be totally fine for them since the bread has fiber…or something. In reality, a few tablespoons of Nutella contain 200 calories, 11 grams of fat (3.5 of them saturated) and 21 grams of sugar—which is more like eating a chocolate bar, really. Thanks to the case, Ferrero USA has agreed to revise its labelling and advertising campaigns (among the now-verboten phrases, the supremely vague “quality ingredients”). If you want to get in on the class action lawsuit, there’s still time: eligible consumers (i.e. Americans) can submit a claim for $4 per jar purchased, though that’s capped at a maximum of $20. [Globe and Mail]