Sargento Class Action Lawsuit Claims Cheese Isn’t Antibiotic Free

A new class action lawsuit claims Sargento cheese products are not really “antibiotic free,” despite the company’s marketing and product packaging.

California resident and consumer, Quynh Phan, says Sargento is violating several state consumer protection laws by labeling its various cheese products as being free of antibiotics when, in fact, they are made with milk that comes from cows that have been treated with the drugs. Phan filed a class action lawsuit against Sargento Foods Inc. on Dec. 21 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Sargento is one of the largest producers of cheese products in the U.S. and is considered a top brand in supermarkets and grocery stores from coast to coast. The company knows that consumers are increasingly careful about preservatives, chemicals, and antibiotics in the food they eat, the class action lawsuit says.

Concerns about the use of antibiotics in livestock have grown as research has suggested that consuming meat or milk from animals treated with antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistance in human diseases.

“Antibiotics do not have to end up in food to pose a public health risk,” the class action lawsuit says. “Current science shows that a major cause of the development and spread of antibiotic resistance in human pathogens is environmental contamination from agricultural use.”

Sargento cheese packages are labeled with the words “No Antibiotics” in large print, prompting consumers, including Phan, to purchase them over other cheese products – and to pay more to do so, the class action lawsuit claims.

Phan’s lawyers say independent laboratory testing done in July showed that Sargento cheese – specifically its mild cheddar sliced cheese — are made with milk from cows who are administered antibiotics. The cheddar slices tested positive for the presence of the antibiotic sulfamethazine, the class action lawsuit claims.

“In an apparent effort to qualify the ‘No Antibiotics’ label, the Products’ packaging also includes the fine print statement: ‘Our cheese is made from milk that does not contain antibiotics,’” the Sargento class action says. That wording is reportedly intentionally deceptive and misleading.

Phan purchased the same sliced cheese, among other Sargento cheese products, because the items were described as free from antibiotics altogether, according to the class action lawsuit. The plaintiff was willing to pay more for Sargento’s products on the basis of the packaging claims.

Phan is seeking the court’s approval to represent a Class of consumers who purchased Sargento cheese products based on the “No Antibiotics” labeling nationwide and a subclass of those in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, and New York.

Have you purchased Sargento cheese products because they are marketed and packaged as being free of antibiotics? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Lead plaintiff Phan and the proposed Class Members are represented by Jaimie Mak and Kim Richman of Richman Law Group.

The Sargento Cheese Class Action Lawsuit is Quynh Phan, et al. v. Sargento Foods Inc., Case No. 5:20-cv-09251, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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