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Mondelēz International has been found by a German court to have misled consumers after reducing the size of its Milka chocolate bars from 100 grams to 90 grams without making substantial changes to the product’s packaging.

The lawsuit was brought by the Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg at the Regional Court serving the German federal state and city of Bremen.

The ruling, case 12 O 118/25, concluded that the packaging created the expectation that the product quantity had remained unchanged despite the reduction introduced earlier in 2025.

According to the court, consumers familiar with the longstanding Milka packaging would reasonably assume the chocolate bars still contained 100 grams. Judges said the discrepancy between the visual presentation and the actual net weight risked misleading buyers unless accompanied by a clear and visible notice on-pack.

The court stated that Mondelēz should have included a comprehensible notice of the quantity reduction for at least four months following the change, to give consumers adequate time to recognise the adjustment.

The decision is not yet final, and Mondelēz has one month to appeal the ruling.

A spokesperson for Mondelēz told Reuters: “We take note of and take seriously today’s court ruling and are now examining the court’s reasoning in detail."

The maker of brands including Milka and Oreo said it reduced the weight of some Milka bars last year in response to increasingly volatile market conditions while aiming to maintain expected product quality standards.