Tyson Class Action Says No Such Thing As ‘Prime’ Pork

Emily Sortor | October 16, 2019

Category: Food

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A class action lawsuit says Tyson’s “Prime Pork” is not really “prime,” because there is no such grading for pork.

Plaintiffs Fred Michael Davis, Clarence Broussard, Alain Pierre, Megan Weber, Meredith Rieger Branciforte, Gina Murray, Tanja McPeters, Courtney Wood, Hayley Denman, and Kristin Cacayorin filed the class action against Tyson, the producer of the pork in question, and The Fresh Market, a retailer that sells it.

The customers say they each made a purchase of Tyson’s “Chairman’s Reserve Prime Pork,” believing that the pork was USDA “prime” grade.

Allegedly, the customers were financially injured by this false labeling because they paid a premium for the pork based on the assumption that it was of a certain grade.

According to the Tyson class action, the USDA does not provide grades for pork in a fashion similar to beef. The customers claim that Tyson is trying to mislead customers about the quality of the pork by invoking the “prime label,” which is used to describe a high quality beef.

In support of this claim, the customers note Tyson’s use of the term “prime” to advertise their beef. Allegedly, customers recognize this label as indicating that the beef is of high quality, and the company knows this.

The Tyson pork class action lawsuit says that starting in February 2017, Tyson “decided to trade off of the known quality and prestige of USDA Prime Beef,” and began producing a line of pork products called “Chairman’s Reserve Prime Pork.” Allegedly, this was done to increase pork sales to customers and retail partners.

Tyson reportedly developed a comprehensive marketing campaign to use in partnership with retailers for the product, including Fresh Market, that was intended to mislead and confuse consumers.

The customers say that Tyson and Fresh Market intentionally marketed the product with the “prime” label to lead customers to believe that they were purchasing pork graded as USDA “prime,” though this does not exist.

The Tyson, Fresh Market prime pork class action lawsuit says that had customers known that the pork was not actually a USDA “prime” grade pork, and did not have the qualities implied therein, they would not have purchased the pork or would not have paid as much for it as they did.

The customers seek damages on behalf of themselves and all similarly affected customers.

Have you purchased Tyson’s Chairman’s Reserve Prime Pork believing it to be USDA prime grade meat? Let us know in the comments below.

The customers are represented by Mason A. Pertnoy, Richard L. Allen, and Steven D. Solowsky of Solowsky & Allen PL; and by Gary N. Mansfield, Ronnie Bronstein, and David Stone of Mansfield Bronstein Stone LLP.

The Tyson Chairman’s Reserve Prime Pork Class Action Lawsuit is Fred Michael Davis, et al. v. The Fresh Market Inc., et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-24245-PCH, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On June 26, 2020, a federal judge decided to toss a proposed class action lawsuit from consumers who challenged Tyson using the term “prime” to describe their Chairman’s Reserve Prime Pork products.