Saffron Road Class Action Says Lentil Crackers Have Too Much Pea, Corn Flour

American Halal Company, which manufactures and sells food products under the “Saffron Road” brand name, has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging its Lentil Crackers contain more corn flour and pea flour than is represented on the label.

According to the Saffron Road class action lawsuit, lentils are part of 12 crops known as pulses, which produce an edible seed that grows within a pod. Other pulse products include dry beans, dry peas and garbanzo beans.

Plaintiff Romel Hightower notes that the consumption of pulse-based products has increased over the last 10 years as consumers have become increasingly aware of how the food they eat affects them and the world around them.

The rising popularity of pulse-based products is due in part to the fact they contain twice as much protein as whole grains; they are high in fiber, B vitamins, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc; they lower blood sugar levels; they are naturally gluten-free; and they do not consist of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the lentil cracker class action lawsuit alleges.

Many consumers choose to eat pulse-based products because they are less harmful to the environment, the Saffron Road class action lawsuit states. The production of pulses reportedly leaves a smaller carbon footprint than equivalent amounts of animal protein would require, and they also leave behind nitrogen in the soil which benefits future crops.

The Saffron Road Lentil Crackers are sold in at least three varieties, including Sea Salt, Rosemary Herb and Cracked Pepper, the Saffron Road class action lawsuit alleges. The packaging of these three products include identical representations that focus on lentils, including the phrases: “oven baked LENTIL CRACKERS,” “Plant Based Protein – 5 Grams Per Serving,” and “unlocking the power of lentils which are nutritional powerhouses dense in protein, high in fiber, and low in fat.”

“However, contrary to the Products’ representations and exclusive emphasis on lentils and by extension lentil flour, they also contain corn flour and pea flour, as the second and fifth listed ingredients for the Products,” Hightower alleges in the Saffron Road Lentil Crackers class action lawsuit.

Hightower says that this representation leads consumers to believe that lentils are present in a higher amount than are actually present in the Saffron Road Lentil Crackers. He says that he believed the crackers “were made with only lentils as the flour source in the same way consumers would observe products named ‘wheat crackers’ and reasonably expect they were composed of only flour derived from wheat.”

Hightower filed the Saffron Road class action lawsuit on behalf of a proposed Class of nationwide consumers and consumers in New York who purchased Saffron Road Lentil Crackers with labels that allegedly include misrepresentations about the lentil flour content.

The Saffron Road Lentil Crackers class action lawsuit asserts claims for violations of New York General Business Law, breach of express warranty, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, fraud and unjust enrichment.

Hightower is represented by Joshua Levin-Epstein of Levin-Epstein & Associates PC and Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The Saffron Road Lentil Crackers Class Action Lawsuit is Romel Hightower v. American Halal Company, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-01293-KAM-SMG, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.