Blue Diamond Growers Smokehouse Almonds Label Misrepresents Smoke Flavor Source, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action claims Blue Diamond Growers has falsely advertised its Smokehouse Almonds, given the product’s smoked taste comes from added flavoring rather than from being smoked over hardwoods.

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The 33-page lawsuit says that despite the representation that the almonds were made in a smokehouse, the product’s taste is, in fact, produced completely by liquid smoke flavoring. The California-based company—a cooperative of almond growers—has misleadingly marketed the items to attract consumers who seek additive-free food products made through traditional methods, the suit alleges.

Although the ingredients list includes “Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor,” a synthetic liquid smoke flavoring, this information fails to adequately inform reasonable consumers that the almonds were not subject to any smoking over hardwoods, the case contends.

As such, the complaint claims the product is misbranded under federal and state regulations, which require a food product’s label to disclose the source of its characterizing flavor.

The filing says this alleged misrepresentation allows the company to sell the almonds at a premium price.

The plaintiffs—two Pennsylvania residents who have bought the almonds in the past few years—claim they would not have paid as much for the items, or bought them at all, had the consumers known the almonds’ smoked taste was actually derived from liquid smoke flavoring.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who purchased Blue Diamond Growers’ Smokehouse Almonds in Pennsylvania during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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