Coffee Mate-Gate: NY Joe Drinkers Say Nestle Is Stiffing Them

NEW YORK CITY — What began with a teaspoon, a scale and a vat of French Vanilla Coffee Mate could end up in Manhattan Federal Court, attorneys say.

A cabal of New York City coffee drinkers filed suit Thursday against Nestle USA over Coffee Mate products they say they can prove aren't providing as many creamy cups of joe as promised.

"Defendant is systemically underfilling the Products to provide significantly fewer servings than represented," the lawsuit claims. "This renders the Products’ serving size representations false and misleading."

A spokesperson for Nestle USA did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

The group's attorneys did not rely on the testimony of their clients alone, the complaint declares. Counsel put the theory to the test themselves.

The scientifically-minded lawyers bought eight variations of Coffee Mate, a state-of-the-art scale and a Sur La Table teaspoon the New York Times named the most accurate teaspoon on the market, the lawsuit claims.

"Measuring the number of teaspoons contained within the Products requires no special expertise whatsoever," the suit states. "Anyone is capable of measuring this in their own kitchen."

Counsel then weighed each Coffee Mate product by the teaspoon to determine how many servings, measured in grams, were in each container, the suit says.

The results were unambiguous, according to the suit.

The test found Chocolate Creme Coffee Mate, advertised as containing 210 servings, held only 111.6, a difference of nearly 47 percent, according to the alleged findings.

The Original Coffee Mate advertised as containing 500 servings held 385.9, a 140-serving Caramel Latte container held only 115.3 and a 210-serving French Vanilla container carried only 117.9 servings, the lawyers claim.

Catherine Rothwell, a plaintiff in the case, spent $6 on Nestle Coffee Mate because she believed it would provide her 210 servings of creamy, French Vanilla-flavored coffee, the suit states.

"Unfortunately," the suit states, "the Products she purchased contained significantly less than 210 servings."

That is why the coffee drinkers demanded a trial by jury in Manhattan Federal Court, to address an alleged fraud they estimate costs consumers millions of dollars, the suit says.

"Finally, it is impossible that as the world’s largest food company, Defendant could be unaware of the actual volume of the Products it sells," the lawsuit claims.

"Simply put, this is an instance of intentional fraud."