The Region : Miller Brewing Fined Over Lite-Weights

Prosecutors in Los Angeles County say that even though Miller Brewing Co.’s Lite beer may have great taste, it was also less filling--literally. In a complaint filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, the district attorney’s office alleged that at least 117,432 bottles of Lite beer in Southern California were about 1% short of the volume promised on the label. The crisis was over before mystery writer Mickey Spillane, comedian Rodney Dangerfield or a host of sports celebrities who have argued the company’s “great taste--less filling” advertising debate could be summoned to appear. Within hours of the complaint’s filing, Miller Brewing, which is based in Milwaukee, Wis., agreed--without admitting wrongdoing--to pull all the allegedly short-weighted bottles from its sales racks and agreed to pay $18,000 in civil penalties and $2,500 in costs, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Papageorge. The lightweight bottles of Lite beer were filled during a single bottling run at a plant in Irwindale, about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.