What You Need to Know About Clif Bar's Massive Class Action Lawsuit Settlement
Clif Bar was sued over claims about the product's nutritional value.
Published Aug. 7 2024, 1:06 p.m. ET
If you've ever purchased a Clif Bar — the energy bars marked towards both outdoor enthusiasts and fitness fans, alike — you may be eligible for part of a large payday after the company settled their class action lawsuit.
How much money you stand to get and what you'll need to do to score the extra cash will vary depending on what you purchased, when you bought it, and what state you were in at the time of the sale. Keep reading to learn more about the eight digit settlement, including how you can cash in on your portion of the payout.
Clif Bar settles a class action lawsuit over claims that it mislead customers.
According to MSN, Clif Bar was hit with a class action suit after customers claimed that they were tricked into buying the bars by misleading advertising tactics that touted the nutritional benefits of the snack foods, leaving out just how much sugar each of the products included in the settlement contained.
The complaint filed in April 2018 was 79 pages long and included accusations that customers had been intentionally duped, especially regarding the kid's version of the snack.
“Clif markets these so-called ‘nutrition’ bars with labeling and packaging claims that convey a health and wellness message with the goal of increasing the price and sales of its high-sugar ‘nutrition bars,’” part of the lawsuit read. While a 12 million dollar settlement was reached in August 2024, the company maintains that they did nothing wrong, pointing out that just because a snack has sugar, it's not necessarily unhealthy.
The Clif Bar settlement only includes certain bars.
Only those who purchased the original Clif Bars with "Nutrition for Sustained Energy" or those Clif Kid Z Bars with "No high fructose corn syrup" are part of this settlement. The bars had to be purchased in New York or California between April 19, 2014, and March 31, 2023.
Those non-New York and California residents won't be left out in the cold because anyone who purchased these bars in another state between March 31, 2019, and March 31, 2023, will also be eligible to file a claim.
What to do if you bought the Clif Bars included in the settlement.
To file a claim you'll need to either visit the class action suit's designated website. You can do so by either using the online portal or printing out a form and mailing it to the address listed on the sheet. All claims must be submitted by November 25, 2024, to be considered. Payouts will begin to process after the final approval is issued by the courts, something that lawyers expect will happen in early November.
As for how much those checks will be once payments start rolling out, it all depends on how many bars you purchased. The maximum payout per individual will be just $50, with those who bought 30 bars getting $5, those who purchased 31-60 bars getting $10, and those who bought 60 sets to receive $15. Any purchases larger than that will be given 25 cents per bar, up to the $50 max.
