Del Monte Farmhouse Cut Green Beans Contain Preservative Salt Class Action

If the only preservative a food contains is salt, should the company be allowed to claim that it contains “No Preservatives”? The complaint for this class action says it should not. At issue are Farmhouse Cut Green Beans, from Del Monte Foods, Inc., which are advertised as containing “No Preservatives,” even though they contain salt.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The Illinois Class is all persons in Illinois who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
• The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in North Dakota, Rhode Island, Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Wyoming, and Delaware who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.

Del Monte labels its canned Farmhouse Cut Green Beans as being “Fresh Cut,” “With Natural Sea Salt,” and having “No Preservatives.”

The complaint defines a preservative as “something that preserves or [has] the power of preserving, specifically, an additive used to protect against decay, discoloration, or spoilage.” It identifies two classes of preservatives. Natural preservatives include sugar, salt, vinegar, and spices. Artificial preservatives include substances like benzoate of soda, salicylic acid, and sulfur dioxide.

Many consumers these days avoid foods that contain preservatives.

According to the complaint, “[f]ederal and identical state regulations require that all foods contain a prominent statement sufficient to tell purchasers if it contains a chemical preservative.”

Canned green beans are processed using heat, to prevent spoiling. However, the complaint asserts that heat alone may not be sufficient for this: “Some organisms are merely weakened through the canning process, while some may survive, albeit in small enough numbers such that they will not be an issue if the food is consumed within a reasonable amount of time.” It adds, “Salt ensure that fewer bacteria survive, and those that do[] stay dormant.”

The complaint makes a number of statements about salt’s preservative qualities: “Salt prevents and slows discoloration of food.” “Salt causes food to maintain its texture for longer than it otherwise would.” “Salt has a preservative function even in a largely sterile environment.” It thus asserts, “The statement that the Product has ‘No Preservatives’ is false, due to the presence of salt.”

Since salt is a natural ingredient, regulations do not require the label for the green beans to identify it as a preservative. However, the complaint claims that “they do not authorize the claim of ‘No Preservatives.’”

The complaint alleges that consumers have a choice between products that do and do not contain preservatives. It alleges that the green beans in question were worth less than what consumers paid for them.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, No Preservatives Claims