Gotta admit I never even thought about this one…
A major food brand is being sued over claims it falsely marketed its canned tomatoes as premium “San Marzano” products.
Cento Fine Foods, based in New Jersey, is facing a proposed class action lawsuit claiming it misled consumers by labeling its tomatoes as “certified” San Marzano despite allegedly failing to meet the strict standards associated with the variety, according to a May 4 complaint filed in federal court in California.
“San Marzano tomatoes are considered the Ferrari or Prada of canned tomato varieties,” the lawsuit states, quoting Martha Stewart’s website. “Loyalists say they are well worth the higher price tag compared to other Italian or domestically produced options.”
Full article, HERE from Fox News.
Obviously those folks have ‘spesul’ taste buds to be able to pick out which tomatoes are which.
Meh…whatever… I grew up eating tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chili. To me, a tomato is a tomato, and the best ones are the ones you grow yourself.
You want to go spend all that money, feel free!
Little tastes as good as a sliced home-grown tomato, fresh out of the greenhouse with a little salt on homemade bread. The taste of childhood summers.
The Ferrari of canned tomatoes…now I’ve heard everything. Thanks, Old NFO
I agree with you on tomatoes, especially since many tomato dishes are heavily spiced!, I have 30 tomato plants started. In the house to go in my Alaskan green house in a couple weeks.
Where there’s a lawyer, there’s a lawsuit… I hope the judge throws this one out.
I can’t tell the difference between tomatoes and tomato sauces. However, my kids sure can ! Lucky for me, they prefer Walmart generic tomato sauce. True story…I never show them what sauce I use but if I use anything other than Walmart sauce they complain ! Especially my oldest son. ( Note: They are ” on the spectrum ” and notice things about taste and texture I would never notice in a mIllion years.)
While I suspect this lawsuit is frivolous and about money…the difference in tomatoes Can make a difference to some people. If you spend the $$ for a product, shouldn’t you get that product?
Or to frame it another way. If you paid for wine made from the finest grapes in France, and you got wine made from very nice grapes, grown in West Virginia, you would probably be mad. Many people would be. So…if you pay for fancy sauce made from a specific type of tomato, shouldn’t you feel cheated if you got someones regular backyard tomato sauce? Same idea. Most judges, I think , would back you up if you got regular wine instead of the expensive vintage you paid for. They Should then back a lawsuit about the wrong tomatoes.
If what they’re selling ain’t what they claim, then sic the lawyers on ’em! One of my clients insists only San Marzanos will do for some dishes and gets rather perturbed if the store is out. Apparently, all tomatoes ain’t equal.
Names matter, nobody would eat a Bandywine and believe that a commercial variety was as tasty.
LOL, Brandywine
Let’s talk about something that actually needs to have a legal action to take care of. Shrinkflation or deceit in packaging practices. The one example I can give comes from my wife. She buys butter in 1lb boxes for baking. Four quarter pound sticks to a box. Only they do not actually weigh a quarter pound. When she weighs out the butter for baking she has to add nearly a full additional stick to get the desired weight. She tells me she has seen video after video of similar issues for all sorts of food purchases advertising a certain weight in packaging and the actual contents are light. This is the butcher putting his thumb on the scale on an industrial level. Consumers are losing money to corporate theft nationwide.
“May or mah”. It depends on how you say it…
Hey Old NFO,
When you use tomatoes and beans for y’alls Texas Chili’s I guess some people get finicky 😀
If I’m paying extra for something I expect to get what I paid for.
Will my cheapness pay extra? No.
Hmm… well, as a general principle, yes you should get what you paid for, and if the company was substituting cheap tomatoes for expensive ones.. However, the problem here is that ideally the plaintiffs should have to prove that that was what was done. Then, if proven, in my view the purchasers who can prove they actually bought the stuff should get a reimbursement for the difference in price between the fancy stuff and the generic stuff. The attorneys should be compensated for time and expenses. That’s not what will happen. The company will settle for a whacking great sum to avoid the expense of litigation, the attorneys will get wealthy, and the plaintiffs will get pennies on the dollar, if that.
Interesting… I guess I’m an oddball, in that I don’t care and sure as hell wouldn’t spend the extra money for something like that. Y’all do raise some interesting points though, and yes, shrinkflation IS a thing… sigh
I bet if you went on a date with sue and found out she was bill you might feel cheated
We used to grow both San Marzano & Brandywine tomatoes, both heirlooms. The SM’s are a great sauce tomato, & the BW’s are perfect straight up or in sammiches.
Double- Thanks for that info!
San Marzano tomatoes are superior! Less acidic and sweeter. Huge difference!! I wish I had the space to grow my own but alas, I must depend on Italy. Look for the DOP on the label. I get mine from Amazon since my grocery store does not carry them.