Tamara Burns  |  November 10, 2015

Category: Consumer News

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Safeway class action lawsuitLast week, Safeway was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that the supermarket has been short-changing customers on their purchases of store brand canned tuna.

Based on recent testing by the government, plaintiff Ehder Soto claims that the cans of tuna he had purchased at a Safeway in Santa Cruz, Calif. did not contain the 5 ounces advertised on the can’s label. He states that the information on the label influenced his purchasing decisions, and in total, he claims to have purchased five cans of tuna every two weeks from 2012 to 2014.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently conducted testing of the canned tuna and concluded that 106 out of 108 Safeway tuna cans did not contain as much tuna as was indicated on the label. According to the Safeway tuna class action lawsuit, federally mandated fill standards assert that 5 ounce cans of tuna must have a minimum of 2.84 ounces by weight, and Safeway’s cans contained an average of only 2.29 ounces of pressed cake tuna, a full 19.4 percent below the minimum standard.

Multiple rounds of testing were conducted by NOAA and the agency determined that between 98 and 100 percent of the cans tested per lot failed to meet the minimum fill requirements, the Safeway tuna class action lawsuit alleges.

Soto says in the class action lawsuit that consumers would not have purchased the tuna had they known the true facts about the product’s noncompliance with federal regulations. He further asserts that the Safeway tuna did not have the characteristics, ingredients, uses benefits or quantities as promised, and that consumers paid a premium for the product due to Safeway’s promises that the cans in fact included 5 ounces of tuna, based on the labeling.

The Safeway tuna class action lawsuit brings forth multiple claims against Safeway on behalf of Soto and a nationwide Class for breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, unjust enrichment, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud. Soto also accuses the supermarket of violating of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law and California’s False Advertising Law.

Soto seeks to represent Safeway customers who have purchased 5-ounce cans of Safeway Chunk Light Tuna in Water and Safeway Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water. He is also seeking certification of a subclass of shoppers in the state of California. While the exact number of potential Class Members is unknown, the Safeway tuna class action lawsuit estimates that there are millions of individuals who would qualify.

In a similar class action lawsuit against StarKist Co. for their brand of tuna, consumers also alleged that the cans of tuna were underfilled. StarKist paid $12 million to settle the lawsuit. The company claimed that they had previously petitioned the federal government regarding their established fill standards, urging the government to change from a “pressed cake standard” to a “drained weight standard” to more accurately determine product weight.

Soto is represented by L. Timothy Fisher, Julia A. Luster and Scott A. Bursor of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Safeway Tuna Class Action Lawsuit is Soto v. Safeway Inc., Case No. 3:15-cv-05078, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Feb. 1, 2016, Safeway asked the court to trim three of the allegations in the tuna class action lawsuit including breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.

UPDATE 2: On July 13, 2016, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen granted in part Safeway’s motion to dismiss, tossing the claim of negligent misrepresentation, but leaving the claim for unjust enrichment.

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5 thoughts onSafeway Faces Class Action for Underfilling Canned Tuna

  1. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE 2: On July 13, 2016, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen granted in part Safeway’s motion to dismiss, tossing the claim of negligent misrepresentation, but leaving the claim for unjust enrichment.

  2. Terry English says:

    If possible I would like to join this suit since I previously purchased this several times based on the supposed weights on the cans.

  3. dennis cejka says:

    i have an honest question about safeway. is safeway and fareway grocery stores owned by the same folks? i know fareway grocery stores tuna is always not what its suppose to be. seems like i have gotten several cans from there the regular sized and even the bigger cans and i am lucky if they ever are even half filled. i noticed it back with starkist tuna also. but if i am right these two companys are one in the same am i correct or not? if so they should be mentioning that fareway had its own brand of tuna also and it seems the same with them as safeway and starkist tuna both. anyways i always heard they was owned by the same people? when i look up fareway online it brings up alot of safeway stuff with it always. any body have any thoughts let me know and thank you.

  4. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE: On Feb. 1, 2016, Safeway asked the court to trim three of the allegations in the tuna class action lawsuit including breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.

  5. Jan says:

    Is there somewhere to file a claim, yet???

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