EAST ST. LOUIS - Alex Landry of Madison County seeks to ban sales of Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles cereals statewide because their labels lied about the number of servings.
His counsel David Nelson of Belleville claims the labels promised 15 servings but Cocoa Pebbles provided 11.5 servings and Fruity Pebbles provided 12.1.
He seeks to recover 21.1% of the purchase price for Landry and a national class.
Nelson filed Landry’s suit against Post Consumer Products in St. Clair County circuit court in May.
He claimed Landry paid $2.19 for each container at Schnucks in Collinsville after reviewing the labels which deceived him.
The cereal in each box allegedly weighed 552 grams, which would equal 36.8 grams per serving for 15 servings.
He claimed the label defined a serving as one cup; he claimed a cup of Cocoa Pebbles weighed 48 grams and a cup of Fruity Pebbles weighed 45.5 grams.
“Defendant caused economic harm to plaintiff and the class because they received fewer servings than defendant promised on their labels,” he wrote.
“Plaintiff and class members didn’t get what they paid for.”
He proposed to certify a national class and an Illinois class with five years of claims.
He requested an injunction prohibiting sales of the products in Illinois.
The complaint on Post was served in June and Post counsel Patrick Cloud of Edwardsville removed it to U.S. district court on July 3.
Cloud claimed the amount in controversy exceeded a $5 million limit on class actions in state courts.
The court clerk assigned District Judge Stephen McGlynn.