Pampa Fancy Octopus is Actually Canned Squid, Class Action Says

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

A proposed class action lawsuit accuses the makers of Pampa canned octopus of engaging in a bait and switch scheme by substituting cheaper, lower quality squid instead octopus in three of its products.

Transnational Foods Inc. is a food product brand sold at retailers throughout the country that primarily caters to predominately Hispanic communities.

As part of its product line, Florida-based TFI sells three canned octopus products under the brand name “Pampa”: Octopus in Garlic Sauce, Octopus in Vegetable Oil, and Octopus in Marinara Sauce.

Other named defendant, Conservas Cerqueira is a large seafood supplier and cannery based in Spain that supplies various seafood products to United States based brands including TFI.

Plaintiff Vivian Lis Lejbman says she purchased the canned octopus products for a premium price, relying on the representation that they contained octopus.

However, the class action lawsuit claims that independent DNA testing determined that TFI’s canned octopus products supplied by Cerqueira are actually jumbo squid and not octopus.

According to the plaintiff, the word “Octopus” or “Pulpo” is prominently displayed on the label of each product in a large font but nowhere on the label does it state that the canned octopus products contain squid instead of octopus.

Octopus and jumbo squid are both cephalopods, but are otherwise completely different species. However, octopus populations have been declining due to overfishing while jumbo squid populations have been thriving, according to scientific researchers.

As a result, the cost of octopus has increased dramatically compared to the significantly cheaper cost of squid. While of lower quality than octopus, due to the similarities in texture, squid can be easily substituted for octopus particularly when sold in a sauce.

Lis Lejbman contends that “TFI and Cerqueira have intentionally replaced the octopus in its products with squid as a cheap substitute to save money because they knew an ordinary customer would have trouble distinguishing the difference.”

The lawsuit contends that further testing has revealed that this “bait and switch” is occurring throughout the Cerqueira cross-brand octopus products, pointing out that in 2011, Cerqueira was sanctioned by a local government in Spain for this exact practice.

Lis Lejbman says she never would have purchased the canned octopus products had she known that in actuality they contain squid.

The plaintiff brings several claims individually and on behalf purchasers of nationwide that include breach of express warranty, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, unjust enrichment, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud, among others.

She is seeking to represent a two certified nationwide subclasses consisting of all persons in the United States who purchased either the Cerqueira cross-brand octopus products or the TFI brand octopus products from November 2011 to the present.

The proposed class action lawsuit is asking for damages in excess of $5 million for the Class as well as attorneys’ fees, court costs, and other relief the Court deems just under the circumstances. A trial by jury has been requested for this case.

Lis Lejbman is represented by James P. Gitkin of Salpeter Gitkin LLP and L. Timothy Fisher of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Pampa Canned Octopus Class Action Lawsuit is Vivian Lis Lejbman v. Transnational Foods Inc., et al., Case No. 1:16-cv-25023, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.