Ferrero sets aside $3 million for Nutella US class action

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian confectionery group Ferrero has agreed to set aside $3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit championed by a Californian mother after she discovered the group's Nutella chocolate spread packed more fat than jam or syrup.

The maker of Nutella is setting aside $3.05 million to resolve a sticky class action lawsuit initiated by a young California mother who disputed the hazelnut breakfast spread's wholesome image.Notices of class action settlements declared that Ferrero USA, Inc. -- a subsidiary of Italian confectioner Ferrero Group -- would pay $4 for every jar of Nutella bought in California since August 2009, or bought anywhere else in the United States since January 2008.

Italian chocolate tycoon Pietro Ferrero, joint chief executive of the Ferrero group which owns Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, has died in an accident in South Africa, a spokesman for the group said on Monday.Ferrero, who was 47, was in South Africa "on a business trip," the spokesman said, without giving any further details about the type of accident.Ferrero ran the secretive sweets group along with his brother Giovanni.Their 85-year-old father Michele, Italy's richest man, turned the company into a global leader of the confectionery industry.

(ronnyg)

Some companies believe that the best form of advertising comes through word of mouth. Not Ferrero SpA, the Italian confectioner which owns scrumptious hazelnut spread brand Nutella.

Italian chocolate maker Ferrero has dropped out of the race to buy British confectioner Cadbury after deciding to end talks for a joint bid with US counterpart Hershey, media reported on Wednesday.The Italian group, which is owned by the Ferrero family and sells the Nutella hazelnut spread and Kinder chocolates, informed its bank advisers at Mediobanca about its decision on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Washington Legal Foundation (WLF)??has??commented twice before (here and here) at our Legal Pulse blog on the indigestion-causing class action suits that were filed??in New Jersey and California??against??Ferrero, the maker of Nutella. The gist of the complaints is that Ferrero misled consumers with statements and images on the product label and in ads that Nutella was ...

(urgent_98)