Ghirardelli's 'classic white' had no white chocolate — and 'all natural' wasn't either

Ghirardelli sold 'Premium Baking Chips — Classic White', the kind of bag a recipe reaches for when it asks for white chocolate, and carried 'all natural' across a line of its chocolate products. A class action in the Northern District of California read the labels back: the white chips contained no cocoa butter and no chocolate at all, and the 'all natural' products contained processed ingredients that were anything but.

Ghirardelli contested the suit — arguing the lead plaintiff lacked standing on products he had not bought, and that the labels moved neither prices nor sales — but agreed in August 2014 to a $5.25 million common fund. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler gave preliminary approval on 6 October 2014 and final approval in February 2015.

Refunds ran $1.50 per purchase of the white chips and $0.75 per 'all natural' purchase, for buys from August 2008 to October 2014. For the premium baking aisle the settlement drew a line under two words: 'white chocolate' is a recipe's expectation, not a mood, and 'all natural' is a claim that the ingredient list has to prove.