LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - The man who sued the maker of Texas Pete hot sauce because it is made in North Carolina should have read the label.
That's the argument of T.W. Garner Food, which faces a proposed class action from plaintiff Phillip White and his attorneys at the Clarkson Law Firm. That suit says Garner Foods uses the Texas brand to trick customers into buying Louisiana-style hot sauce actually made in North Carolina.
Garner Foods filed a motion to dismiss Nov. 10 in Los Angeles federal court, arguing reasonable consumers would not be misled and that the product's back label expressly states where the sauce is made.
"The use of a single white star and a cowboy caricature on the product labels do not in any way represent that the product is made in Texas or uses ingredients from Texas," the motion says. "The product labels make no such representation, either expressly or impliedly.
"Plaintiff's incorrect assumption does not mean that a significant portion of the consuming public would make the same incorrect assumption.
"Most importantly, the Texas Pete bottle of hot sauce specifically provides consumers with the location of manufacturing, North Carolina, on the back label."
The lawsuit is one of many class actions that claim food-makers try to take advantage of the goodwill associated with some geographic regions while making their products elsewhere.
Those cases include a failed one against Red Stripe over its marketing as "The Taste of Jamaica" despite being made in Pennsylvania, as well as a more recent lawsuit against the maker of a feta cheese made in America instead of Greece.
The Texas Pete case says Garner Foods "adorns" its hot sauce with "distinctly Texan imagery," like a lone star and a cowboy.
"Defendant concocted this false marketing and labeling scheme specifically because it knows the state of Texas enjoys a certain mysticism and appeal in the consumer marketplace and is known for its quality cuisine, spicy food, and hot sauce in particular," the suit says.
None of that adds up to a legal claim for relief, Garner Foods says, citing the "reasonable consumer" standard that marketing class actions are held to.
"A reasonable consumer viewing the product's label is fully capable of understanding that the Texas Pete brand name is just that - a brand name," the company's lawyers wrote.
Garner Foods is represented by Caroline Mankey and Christopher McAndrew of Akerman LLP.