Wal-Mart’s Pork & Beans Don’t Contain Pork, Class Action Says

Last week, a class action lawsuit was filed against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in California federal court alleging that the store brand Great Value Pork & Beans in Tomato Sauce does not contain any pork.

Lead plaintiffs Matthew Tye, Harry Schmoll and Michael Wilcox allege in their class action lawsuit that scientific evidence shows that Wal-Mart’s Great Value Pork & Beans products contain no pork. They further allege that consumers buy the product under the impression that it contains pork, based on the name, label and listed ingredients.

The Great Value Pork & Beans class action lawsuit alleges that “rigorous scientific testing has revealed that the product actually contains no pork whatsoever.”

“While no one reasonably expects any product called ‘pork & beans’ to contain a majority of pork, or even a large quantity of pork,” qualify the plaintiffs in their class action lawsuit, “it is clear that labeling a product which contains no pork whatsoever as ‘pork & beans’ is misleading and deceptive.”

The plaintiffs propose to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who have bought Wal-Mart’s Great Value Pork & Beans since October 2009 and three subclasses of customers in California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the plaintiffs live, respectively.

According to the Wal-Mart class action lawsuit, by not including any pork in their Great Value Pork & Beans, Wal-Mart breached express and implied warranties and was unjustly enriched by the allegedly deceptive practice. The plaintiffs make the breach of warranty and unjust enrichment claims for the proposed nationwide Class.

Wal-Mart also violated various state business and consumer laws, according to the class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs make claims of unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices and misleading advertising under various state statutes for each subclass they propose.

The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction against Wal-Mart for the allegedly deceptive marketing practice, along with declaratory and monetary relief for the nationwide Class as well as the subclasses.

“Each and every can of the product bears a uniformly-worded label which makes the same false, affirmative statements of fact regarding whether pork is included in the product,” the plaintiffs allege in their Wal-Mart class action lawsuit.

Similar class action lawsuits have been filed against other companies over the past few months alleging similar misrepresentations to consumers. A proposed class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court in July accusing Blue Diamond Growers of deceptively marketing its almond milk products as being made primarily from almonds, when in fact the products contain only 2 percent almonds. In another class action, Hampton Creek Inc. is accused of falsely advertising and labeling its Just Mayo vegan spread, which is made entirely of plant products, as mayonnaise.

The plaintiffs are represented by Todd M. Friedman, Suren N. Weerasuriya and Adrian R. Bacon of Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC and Stephen P. DeNittis of DeNittis Osefchen PC.

The Wal-Mart Great Value Pork & Beans Class Action Lawsuit is Matthew Tye, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., et al., Case No. 8:15-cv-01615, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: On Mar. 9, 2016, Wal-Mart shoppers fought back against the retail giant’s motion to dismiss this class action lawsuit that accuses the company of falsely labeling store brand cans of pork and beans, saying the defendant is ignoring the facts listed in the complaint.

UPDATE 2: On Apr. 7, 2016, Wal-Mart filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s first amended complaint on grounds that the consumer’s opposition brief lacks factual allegations regarding the sensitivity of the alleged testing performed on the product.