A lawsuit was filed against Walmart by one of its buyers for reportedly deceiving consumers due to their false claims of selling 100 percent Parmesan cheese.
According to the report, Walmart was following "allegedly deceptive, misleading, false, unfair, and fraudulent practices".
Walmart, along with many other store brands, has been accused of shilling "100 percent real Parmesan" that in fact contains up to 10 percent non-cheese fillers like cellulose made from wood pulp, reported The Daily Meal.
"Consumers reasonably rely on the label and believe [Walmart's] statement that the product consists of '100%' Parmesan cheese means no substitutes or fillers are present in the container," the lawsuit states. "Because the product does, in fact, contain fillers and substitutes, the '100%' Parmesan claim is literally false and is also misleading to consumers."
Customer Marc Moschetta said in the lawsuit he wouldn't have bought the cheese if he'd been aware that "the 100% representation was false and mischaracterized the amount and percentage of Parmesan cheese in the container."
Moschetta is seeking class-action status for the fraud claims, which would allow shoppers across the country to band together to press claims against Wal-Mart, according to Bloomberg.
"We take this matter seriously," Randy Hargrove, a spokesman for Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. "We will review the allegations once we have received the complaint and will respond appropriately to the court."
While this seems to be the first legal action taken against a retailer over WoodCheeseGate, someone sued Kraft last week for the same issue.
Notably, Samantha Lewin filed a case against Kraft last week in San Francisco federal court, alleging that the misrepresentations of the company caused shoppers to pay a premium fee for the containers sold.
The New York case is Moschetta v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 16-cv-1377, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
