Food manufacturer Cento is committing "tomato fraud," lawsuit alleges

Two California residents are suing Cento Fine Foods, alleging the institution engaged successful "tomato fraud" by claiming that the tomatoes successful 1 of its canned products are the authentic San Marzano assortment from Italy.

The plaintiffs assertion that Cento's "Certified San Marzano" labeling is "false, misleading and unfair," alleging that the tomatoes successful the merchandise deficiency the prime and sensation associated with the existent fruit.

New Jersey-based Cento Fine Foods did not instantly respond to a petition for comment. 

On its website, the institution says its San Marzano tomatoes are certified by an autarkic third-party bureau called Agri-Cert. However, Cento's labeling suggests the merchandise has an authoritative DOP designation, a statement granted to San Marzano tomatoes by an Italian consortium that stands for 'protected designation of origin,' the suit alleges.

Cento's statement designs are utilized to "falsely convey they are the celebrated San Marzano herb grown successful the accepted method and certified by [the] Consortium," the suit alleges.

The consortium, known arsenic Il Consorzio di Tutela del Pomodoro San Marzano DOP, promotes and regulates the merchantability of San Marzano tomatoes, which the suit states indispensable conscionable "strict accumulation and prime standards." 

On its website, Cento says that San Marzano tomatoes travel from the municipality that bears their sanction successful the Campania portion of confederate Italy. The tomatoes person a "thicker herb wall, less seeds and little acidity than different tomatoes, making them perfect for authentic Italian cuisine," according to Cento, which claims to beryllium the lone U.S. institution with a accumulation installation successful the region.

Cento customers tin besides hint the nonstop tract wherever the tomatoes successful their merchandise were grown by scanning the batch codification connected their can, according to the company's website

The suit isn't the archetypal clip Cento's tomatoes person been called into question. A 2019 lawsuit filed successful New York alleged the shaper doesn't nutrient arsenic galore San Marzano tomatoes arsenic it claims. 

Edited by Alain Sherter