The maker of a popular breath mint and gum brand is being sued in federal court over allegations that the company uses a packaging that is too large for the amount of product contained inside. Michelle Hu and Michelle Perry filed the lawsuit June 26 in U.S. District Court in New York against Perfetti Van Melle USA, the makers of the Mentos brand.
The lawsuit claims the Mentos 50-piece, sugar-free chewing gum products are packaged with "non-functional slack-fill." Slack-fill is the part of packaging that contains no actual product. The lawsuit claims seven different flavors of Mentos gum are packaged in a way that violates the Federal Food Drug & Cosmetic Act.
The product is packaged in a plastic tube, and the top portion of the tube doesn't contain any of the gum. The lawsuit claims customers relied on looking at the product, and based its size on the amount of product inside. The larger packaging meant the company could charge a premium price for the gum, the lawsuit said. The plaintiffs are seeking class status for those who purchased the gum. They are also seeking damages in excess of $5 million plus court costs. The plaintiffs are represented by C.K. Lee of Lee Litigation Group, PLLC in New York City.
In the UK, Mentos Gum is also available stick packs (peppermint, spearmint, pure white, air action (menthol) and fruit), Bottles (spearmint, peppermint and red fruit - which retails for approximately £0.99), as well as flip top boxes in peppermint or spearmint with green tea extract, and a pure white with white teas extract. Sugar free versions are available, but these are rarer to find, usually only found in large supermarkets.
Mentos gum holds a 4% market share of the UK gum market. A new Mentos 3 was launched in January 2011, in two flavors - mint and Strawberry/Apple/Raspberry, which are similar to Wrigleys' 5 in packaging. A new blackberry/kiwi/strawberry version was released into the UK market in January 2012.
