Discount supermarket chain Aldi has been tagged in a new class action lawsuit, accusing the retailer of selling smoked gouda cheese that allegedly isn’t really smoked.
On July 3, attorney Spencer Sheehan, of the firm of Sheehan & Associates, of Great Neck, N.Y., filed suit in Chicago, on behalf of named plaintiff Nicole Vesota, identified as a resident of Brillion, Wisc.
The complaint accuses Aldi, based in suburban Batavia, of selling sliced cheese products which are labeled as “smoked gouda,” yet contains only “natural smoke flavor.” The complaint asserts the cheese “lacks the delicate balance of phenolic compounds,” a mix of potentially hundreds of chemicals which are present in foods that have been wood-smoked.
According to the complaint, the sliced cheese contains liquid smoke flavoring, a product that is derived from concentrated smoke compounds.
The complaint notes that the smoke flavoring is disclosed on the ingredients list printed on the back of the cheese packaging. Further, the complaint concedes the cheese may have been smoked in some fashion, producing some of the chemical compounds in genuinely smoked foods.
But according to the complaint, “even if the Product underwent some smoking and has some of these flavor compounds, the addition of added smoke flavoring is an acknowledgement it does not have a sufficient amount of these compounds, which is why it contains added smoke flavor.”
Further, according to the complaint, Aldi is required to disclose the “added smoke flavor” on the front of the package.
The complaint accuses Aldi of hiding that notice on the rear of the package, to allegedly mislead buyers into paying $3.99 per 8 ounce package, “a higher price than it would otherwise be sold for.”
The complaint seeks to expand the lawsuit to include anyone in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas and Virginia who purchased Aldi’s sliced smoked gouda cheese products.
The complaint accuses Aldi of counts of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranty, unjust enrichment and violations of Illinois’ consumer fraud law.
The complaint seeks unspecified money damages allowed under the law, plus attorney fees.