Deceptive practices suits say McCormick put 25% less pepper in its usual tin containers
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Where’s the pepper? That’s what consumers could be asking, after purchasing McCormick & Co. tin containers that allegedly contain 25 percent less of the product than they used to.
Federal lawsuits filed in several jurisdictions say McCormick violated consumer laws prohibiting deceptive practices by not reducing the size of the package along with the amount of pepper being sold.
“When plaintiff purchased the reduced product in the summer of 2015, he thought it contained the same amount of pepper as had been in the full products because the tin was the same size it had been in the past,” wrote attorney Sean Cronin of Donovan Rose Nester. He represents Illinois resident Scott Bittle in a suit against the pepper maker, reports the Madison Record.
Other actions brought earlier include suits by a Minnesota competitor in the spice business, J.R. Watkins Inc., and a St. Louis woman, Katrina Linker, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Linker’s lawyer, Ryan Keane, says “slack fill” litigation against McCormick’s pepper container practices is pending in at least seven courts, including three different regions of California and New York.
McCormick is now seeking to consolidate the multi-district litigation in Maryland, where the company is headquartered, the Madison Record reports.
The Watkins company wants it to be overseen in Minnesota. Other plaintiffs oppose consolidation, but, if necessary, want it to occur in California.
