Slack-Fill, What's Your Function? Herr's Accused of Under-Filling Chips

Remember all those slack-fill lawsuits filed last spring? Starbucks, M&Ms and a number of other companies were accused of not putting enough of their products in their packaging – and, in turn, misleading consumers into thinking they were getting more than they actually were.

Well, now we’re looking at yet another slack-fill suit. This time, Herr’s has been hit with a proposed class action out of New York claiming that its bags of potato chips aren’t being filled as much as they should be.

But, They’re Potato Chips…Isn’t There a Reason for All That Room?

Excellent point. We actually used chips (or crisps if you’re feeling especially British today) as an example of functional slack-fill the last time we reported on this type of lawsuit. Like we mentioned before, the air left in your bag of chips prevents your savory snack from being crushed. So, where’s the problem?

According to the lawsuit, Herr’s leaves so much empty space in its bags of chips that the extra room leaves the realm of functional slack-fill and starts to look more like cold-hearted deception in the eyes of consumers. Just check out this image:

The amount of space reserved for slack-fill in an average bag of Herr’s is obviously much more when compared to the same sized bag of Ruffles – nearly 30% empty space for the Ruffles and 54% for Herr’s, according to the complaint. That’s a huge difference and entirely unnecessary in Herr’s case as far as the lawsuit is concerned.

Plus, that 54% is just the average. Allegedly, the slack-fill in Herr’s Products varies between different bags – but, in every case, it’s more than what’s necessary to protect the contents.

So far, the proposed class action only seeks to cover New York and D.C. residents, but if the court sides in favor of the plaintiffs, Herr’s customers may be finding more chips and less empty space sometime in the future.