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]
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