California consumers accuse popular Italian food brand of tomato fraud
A popular American food distributor has long promised premium plum tomatoes in its products. Two Californians claim the company is committing tomato fraud.
A lawsuit filed this month alleges that Cento Fine Foods, a U.S.-based Italian food distributor, falsely labels its products as containing San Marzano tomatoes.
The tomatoes in question are a premium variety that can only be grown in Italy’s Campania region and are recognized by the food industry as the “Ferrari or Prada” of tomatoes, the lawsuit claims.
Cento, which won in a similar case in New York, says its tomatoes come from the right region although they don’t have the same certification from the Italian government.
The complaint alleged that the company falsely labeled its tomato products because they did not have the proper certification required to use that name.
“They do not have the taste, consistency, and other physical characteristics associated by consumers with certified San Marzano tomatoes,” the lawsuit states.
The plaintiffs in the California lawsuit claim they were misled by misleading labeling when purchasing the product more than a dozen times in California stores. The lawsuit seeks class-action certification and asks the judge to award more than $25 million to customers.
Cento has refuted the allegations made in the complaint and will seek dismissal of the complaint in court, a company spokesperson told The Times on Monday.
The ongoing battle over who can use the San Marzano name underscores the importance of food branding at all levels.
The deal goes beyond regional requirements, like calling something Champagne because it’s made in that part of France. It looks more like Washington apples. The Washington Apple label is based on a system of requirements and controls. Apple growers, even if they are in the Western State, can only label their fruit as a Washington apple if they have gone through this process. Otherwise, you will have to use Washington apples.
San Marzano tomatoes have a protected status in the European Union, meaning that an independent consortium must regulate and certify that the product is grown in the correct region and with the appropriate techniques before being sold.
Cento claims it has the right to use the name since its tomatoes are grown in the same region. Its website offers a detailed description of its harvesting and packaging process, which it says complies with the consortium’s guidelines. Cento tomatoes, however, are certified by an independent third-party agency not affiliated with the consortium.
The lawsuit is baseless, said the company spokesperson, who added that the harvesting process is subject to strict quality controls and is regularly audited.
“We take nothing more seriously than the quality and integrity of our products,” a company spokesperson said. “We pride ourselves on the fact that our labels accurately describe the products they contain. Cento is a brand consumers can trust.”
Cento had consortium certification until the 2010s.
A similar suit filed against the company in New York was dismissed by a federal judge in 2020. The judge ruled in favor of Cento, finding that a reasonable customer was not likely to seek tomatoes certified by the consortium over a product meeting the same standards but certified by another agency.
The company then defended its harvesting methods, saying the tomatoes were grown in the right region and with the right techniques.
The company’s tomatoes are grown in the Sarnese-Nocerino region of Italy, located near Mount Vesuvius, according to its website. Tomatoes have an elongated plum shape and a pointed tip.
The third-party certification body administers random testing throughout the growing process and tests every product that arrives at the company’s New Jersey warehouse before being released for sale in stores, according to the website.
The website also has a tracking feature that allows customers to use the batch number of a can to find the field in Italy where the tomatoes were grown.
