Lawsuit Accuses Food Retailer of Misleading Gluten-Free Labelling

Celiac.com 03/15/2022 - A lawsuit filed in Missouri accuses food retailer Frickenschmidt Foods of mislabeling products as gluten-free, when they actually contain gluten. The suit accuses Frickenschmidt of labeling its Wicked Cutz Teriyaki Beef Stick as gluten-free, despite the fact that, according to plaintiff Oluwakemi Adewol, the product does contain gluten.

The plaintiff seeks declaratory, injunctive and monetary relief, including punitive damages and “restitution and disgorgement,” herself and “all others similarly situated," on behalf of three separate classes of product purchasers:  a “Multi-State Consumer Class” that includes California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts,  Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Washington; a specific Maryland Class;  and a Nationwide Class.

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The suit comes in the wake of a finding by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), on February 22, 2022, which determined that Frickenschmidt's Wicked Cutz Teriyaki Beef Stick contains wheat and thus is not ‘gluten free,’” and accordingly, that the FSIS “ordered a recall for approximately 6,000 pounds of the Product that remained in the marketplace.” 

In the complaint, the plaintiffs claim that consumers would not have purchased the product, or have paid a premium for the product, had they known the product contained gluten. 

The complaint alleges five causes of action:  Violation of State Consumer Protection Statutes (On Behalf of the Multi-State Consumer Class); Violation of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act;  and Breach of Express Warranty,  Breach of the Implied Warranty of Merchantability and Unjust Enrichment, all on behalf of the Nationwide Class.

We'll keep you posted if this suit moves forward. Stay tuned for more on this and related stories.

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