Bumble Bee Class Action Says Salmon is Not Fresh-Caught or Smoked

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Bumble Bee Foods LLC has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it deceives consumers into believing its “Premium Select Medium Red Smoked Salmon Filets in Oil” products consist of high-quality, wild-caught salmon.

In reality, plaintiff Miguel Rodriguez says, the Bumble Bee salmon is actually low-quality and farm-raised Chilean salmon that has been colored.

“By making these false, misleading, and unlawful representations, Bumble Bee is able to charge a significant price premium compared to what it could charge for low-quality, colored, smoke-flavored, farm-raised salmon,” the Bumble Bee lawsuit states.

Rodriguez claims he purchased the Bumble Bee salmon product believing it was high-quality, smoked wild-caught Alaskan salmon.

According to the Bumble Bee class action lawsuit, salmon has many health benefits because it is high in protein, low in calories, and high in omega 3 fatty acids. Because wild salmon is generally considered to be of higher quality than farm-raised salmon, consumers are willing to pay a higher price for wild-caught salmon products, Rodriguez claims.

“Wild salmon feed on krill, which gives them their distinctive red or pink color,” the Bumble Bee class action lawsuit says. “Farm-raised salmon, by contrast, naturally have a dull grey flesh. To make the fish appealing to consumers, colorants, typically canthaxanthin or astaxanthin, are added to farmed salmons’ feed to mimic the desired color.”

The Bumble Bee salmon class action lawsuit points to the label of the Bumble Bee salmon packages, which allegedly contain “several representational and design elements which, when taken together, strongly suggest the product is wild Coho salmon.” These elements include the phrases “Premium Quality,” “Premium Select Medium Red,” an image of a medium-red salmon jumping from water in what appears to be an Alaska setting.

This image of the jumping salmon is also used on other Bumble Bee wild salmon products, including its Premium Wild Pink Salmon, Wild Alaska Red Salmon, and Wild Alaska Keta Salmon. Rodriguez asserts that these images put together with the representation of the product as “Premium” and “Medium Red” lead consumers to believe that the Bumble Bee Red Smoked Salmon is wild salmon even though it is low-quality, farm-raised Chilean salmon.

Further, Rodriguez alleges that the Bumble Bee Medium Red Smoked Salmon has not actually undergone any smoking process.

“Rather, just as color is added to the fishes’ food to mimic the flesh of wild salmon, smoke flavor is added to the salmon to mimic the taste of actual smoking,” the Bumble Bee salmon class action lawsuit says.

Rodriguez seeks to represent himself and a proposed Class of consumers in the United States who purchased Bumble Bee Premium Select Medium Red Smoked Salmon Filets in Oil since Nov. 6, 2013.

The Bumble Bee class action lawsuit alleges violations of the California False Advertising Law, the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the California Unfair Competition Law, breach of express warranty and breach of the implied warranty of merchantability.

Rodriguez is represented by Jack Fitzgerald, Melanie Persinger and Trevor Flynn of the Law Office of Jack Fitzgerald PC.

The Bumble Bee Salmon Class Action Lawsuit is Miguel Rodriguez, et al. v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC, Case No. 3:17-cv-02447, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On Feb. 1, 2018, Bumble Bee Foods LLC agreed to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of using misleading labeling that led consumers to believe its canned salmon was smoked and wild caught when it was really farmed salmon with added smoke flavoring.