Blue Diamond “Smokehouse” Almonds Not Actually Smoked Class Action

Were Blue Diamond Growers Smokehouse Almonds smoked in a smokehouse? Were they smoked at all? The complaint for this class action alleges they were not. It claims that smoking is a natural and particular type of processing, that the almonds were not smoked at all, and that their smoke flavor comes from added smoke flavoring.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The Florida Class is all persons in Florida who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
• The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Delaware, North Dakota, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.

The first page of the complaint shows two images of the product: a small package and a larger can. The representations on the packaging shows almonds that appear to be smoked, the word “Smokehouse” on a red ribbon edged with “glowing” orange borders, and what the complaint calls “red and orange coloring evocative of fire.” The complaint alleges that this labeling misleads consumers.

Smoking is a kind of processing and preservation for food that involves cooking it over a fire and exposing it to smoke. The complaint alleges, “The drying action of the smoke and the different phenol compounds help to preserve protein-rich foods such as meat, cheese, almonds, and fish.” Different types of wood produce different flavors of smoke.

The complaint draws definitions of the word “smokehouse” from various dictionaries and alleges that it represents a physical structure where food is prepared through the use of actual smoke. It claims, “In an industrial smoking process, foods, such as almonds, are put on a large tray and slid into an enclosed structure, referred to as a smokehouse.”

In recent years, the complaint alleges, consumers have become more interested in natural processes, like smoking, to produce food without artificial or chemical ingredients. It claims, “This is especially true in the context of foods promoted as smoked or made in a smokehouse, as the European Food Safety Authority (‘EFSA’) confirmed that smoke flavorings contain compounds at levels high enough to pose a toxic risk when consumed.” It also claims that consumers prefer actual smoking to smoke flavoring as a matter of “quality and value.”

The complaint reproduces the product’s ingredient panel, which lists “Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor.”

According to the complaint, “[w]here a food’s flavor does not come exclusively from a characterizing ingredient or processing method, but contains natural flavor derived from that ingredient or processing method, this must be disclosed to consumers on the front label, in addition to on the ingredient list.” The complaint alleges that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned companies to disclose added smoke flavors on the front labels of products.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: "Smoked" Food Is Only Smoke-Flavored, Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels