GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Blue Diamond is facing a class action lawsuit for labeling some of its almonds "smokehouse."
They are not made in a smokehouse, which tricks consumers, the case filed June 24 in Florida federal court says. Willie Cummings is the plaintiff, and Will Wright of West Palm Beach is his lawyer. The title of one section of the complaint is "'Smokehouse' is a noun describing a physical structure."
"Whether a food has been smoked over hardwoods or contains liquid smoke, prepared by pyrolysis of sawdust, is basic front label information consumers rely on when making quick purchasing decisions at the grocery store," the suit says.
"Research by Innova Market Insights confirmed that consumers look to see if the front label has any statement about a product's flavor, because they prefer foods which get their taste from the natural processes by which the food is prepared, such as in a smokehouse."
The ingredients list on smokehouse almonds features "natural hickory smoke flavor, which the suit says Blue Diamond uses to mimic the flavor of almonds actually smoked in a smokehouse.