John P. Rand filed a class-action complaint on Thursday in the Northern District of Illinois claiming that chocolate shavings and caramel toppings he purchased from Kilwins Quality Confections Inc. did not contain the amounts claimed on the packaging. The plaintiff claimed that Kilwins participated in illegal, unfair, and deceptive trade practices due to selling its products “in containers and packaging that materially overstate the volume of the contents – including the number of servings and caloric content.”
Products from Kilwins reportedly are sold online throughout the United States and at franchises in 26 states and the District of Columbia. The plaintiff alleged that the mislabeled products include Kilwins’ Caramel Topping, Sea-Salt Caramel Topping, Fudge Topping, and various shredded chocolates. The complaint additionally said that the plaintiff further believes that there are other candies produced by Kilwins which are mislabeled and are similarly overcharging consumers.
According to Rand, the company “recently quietly corrected labeling on the mislabeled products” but it did not compensate consumers, like the plaintiff, who purchased products during the previous years which were mislabeled.
The plaintiff claimed that he and other consumers were overcharged because of the defendant’s breach of both consumer protection laws and food labeling laws in multiple states. Further, he said the products produced by Kilwins typically have a higher price because they claim to be of higher quality.
According to the complaint, the amount in controversy would exceed 5 million, because of how much consumers overpaid for the products. The plaintiff reportedly paid $16.99 for the toppings he alleges are mislabeled and $18.99 for the bag of shredded chocolate. The toppings claimed to have 20 servings which are each 2 tablespoons and contain 110 calories, he claimed that in reality the containers hold 16 servings of 140 calories each, as the current label for the Fudge Topping states. The shredded chocolate claimed to have 5 cups or 80 tablespoons, but in reality contains 4.3125 cups or 69 tablespoons.
Rand, represented by Voelker Litigation Group and Fox & Fox S.C. asked the court for damages and for the certification of a multi-state class or separate state sub-classes, as well as attorney’s fees and court costs.