A lawsuit filed against Inventure Foods over the weekend accused the defendant of falsely marketing its Crunchy Fries Snacks product, arguing that the food should not be labelled as “fries” because it contains largely corn, rather than potatoes.
The lawsuit brings claims under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act for a proposed class covering Illinois and violations of state consumer fraud acts generally for a second class representing purchasers from eight other states. The complaint also alleges common law claims for fraud and unjust enrichment.
The complaint argues that the defendants, who manufacture the snack at issue under the TGIFridays brand, fraudulently benefited from the sales of their product, as the named plaintiff “bought the Product because she expected it contained mainly potatoes instead of corn because that is what the representations said and implied.”
According to the complaint, the packaging for the item lists the top two ingredients as corn meal and enriched corn meal, followed by vegetable oil. Potatoes only appear as the fourth most prevalent ingredient, and only in the form of “potato flakes.”
The lawsuit resembles others filed by plaintiff’s counsel Sheehan & Associates, which often seek redress for incongruities in how foods are labelled when compared to their true ingredients.
