A California federal judge said Thursday he will grant final approval to a $10 million settlement resolving claims that Nabisco and parent company Mondelez falsely advertised Wheat Thins as containing “100% Whole Grain,” a label plaintiffs argued was misleading due to the inclusion of cornstarch.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria praised the outcome but took notable aim at the defendants’ prior litigation conduct — a saga he said forced plaintiffs’ lawyers to push the case nearly to the brink of trial.
Judge: Case Fought ‘Almost to the Finish Line’
Speaking via Zoom, Judge Chhabria called it “pretty unusual” for him to grant attorneys a fee award above the typical 25% benchmark. But in this case, he said the requested one-third share of the settlement was justified.
“Plaintiffs’ counsel had to go very far, almost to the finish line, really, before getting this settlement,” he said.
The lawsuit, filed in 2022, argued the “100% WHOLE GRAIN” label duped shoppers, including lead plaintiff David Wallenstein, who said he regularly purchased Wheat Thins near his Northern California home and would not have paid the same price had he known the crackers weren’t exclusively whole grain.
