A popular Italian food distributor is in a messy legal battle after it was accused of “tomato fraud.”
A proposed class action lawsuit was filed against Cento Fine Foods on Monday, May 4. Two California residents accused the New Jersey company of illegally and falsely labeling its tomato products as containing “Certified San Marzano” tomatoes.
The lawsuit says Cento’s products are marketed as premium tomatoes from Italy’s Campania region but lack the certification needed to be considered true San Marzano tomatoes.
“They lack the taste, consistency, and other physical characteristics associated by consumers with certified San Marzano Tomatoes,” the lawsuit reads.
Cento has denied the accusations.
“We believe this claim is entirely without merit,” the company said in a statement to ABC News. “We have previously successfully defended a comparable lawsuit in New York federal court and will defend this claim vigorously as well, including seeking prompt dismissal.”
Cans of tomato products sold by Cento Fine Foods. — Facebook – Cento
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San Marzano tomatoes are a type of plum tomato known for their sweet flavor. The lawsuit points to a Martha Stewart blog post that described them as the “Ferrari or Prada” of canned tomatoes.
The European Union gives San Marzano tomatoes a special status under “DOP,” or “Denominazione d’Origine Protetta” (Protected Designation of Origin). The label is given to other popular, region-specific products like certain types of olive oil, Champagne, Parmesan cheese, and prosciutto.
Il Consorzio di Tutela del Pomodoro San Marzano DOP regulates the tomatoes to make sure they’re grown in the proper region with the proper methods. The independent consortium says San Marzano tomatoes are “grown exclusively in the Sarnese-Nocerino area,” with an “elongated cylindrical shape” and “an intense red color with yellow shades.”
The lawsuit claims Cento’s labels give shoppers “an erroneous impression that they contain DOP certified San Marzano Tomatoes of equivalent quality.” The shoppers who filed the suit estimated buying more than a dozen cans of Cento tomatoes.
The suit asks a judge to award more than $25 million to Cento customers.
“Plaintiffs would never have purchased Cento San Marzanos, especially at their premium price, if they had known that they were inauthentic, and indeed illegal in Italy, home of San Marzano tomatoes,” the suit reads.
San Marzano tomatoes. — Wikimedia Commons – Assianir
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Cento has said it voluntarily stopped seeking certification from the consortium in the 2010s over labeling requirements. The lawsuit claims the removal was tied to an investigation into “counterfeit DOP labeling.”
According to Cento’s website, San Marzano tomatoes come from the town sharing their name in Campania. The company says the tomatoes have a “thicker tomato wall, fewer seeds and less acidity than other tomatoes, making them ideal for authentic Italian cuisine.”
Cento claims to be the only US company with a production facility in Campania. The company has an online tool called Find My Field, allowing customers to trace the exact field where the tomatoes were grown by scanning the lot code on their can.
The suit is not the first time Cento’s tomato claims have been challenged.
In 2019, a similar lawsuit was filed in New York, accusing Cento of selling an “inferior” product. It also argued that shoppers wouldn’t have bought the tomatoes if they had “known the truth about the products.”
A federal judge dismissed that case in 2020, writing that a “reasonable consumer” was unlikely to seek out a specific “Consortium certified” San Marzano tomato over one that met the same standards but was certified by another group.
Cento has previously argued that its San Marzano tomatoes are grown in Campania with the proper methods, but are certified by a different third party.
“At Cento Fine Foods, we take nothing more seriously than the quality and integrity of our products,” the company said when the 2019 suit was filed. “We take pride in the fact that our labels accurately describe the products inside. Cento is a brand consumers can trust.”
In 1963, Cento was founded as Alanric Food Distributors by Alfred Ciccotelli Sr., a World War II veteran who once worked in his father’s South Philadelphia store.
Dining and Cooking