Customer Files Class Action Alleging Daiso Japan’s Failure to Disclose Tree Nuts on Product Labels Led to Allergic Reaction

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Daiso California, LLC and Daiso Holding USA, Inc., the United States distributors for Japanese retail franchise Daiso Japan, have failed to disclose the presence of tree nuts on the English language labels for certain food products when the original Japanese language packaging reveals that the items actually contain several of the allergens, including almonds.

The plaintiff, a California woman who says she experienced a severe allergic reaction after consuming one of the mislabeled products, alleges that although the English language labels for the defendants’ Tiramisu Twist Cookie and Tohato-brand Carmel Corn products make no mention of tree nuts, the items do, in fact, contain tree nuts—a fact only disclosed in the Japanese language ingredients list.

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By law, food labels must disclose whether the products contain any of the eight main allergens—milk, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, wheat and soybeans—and, in addition, must include English language labeling when the original ingredients lists are printed in a foreign language, the suit explains.

Daiso, who maintains more than 5,300 retail locations in Japan and across the globe, including 89 locations in the United States, has shown a “conscious disregard” for consumers by allegedly—and repeatedly—misrepresenting the ingredients in its food products, the case charges.

Tree nuts, including walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews and pistachios, are among the allergens most associated with anaphylaxis—a severe and sometimes fatal allergic reaction, the complaint says.

“The concern here is that whatever process is being used to translate the original Japanese ingredient label to the English language sticker label placed on the original packaging is woefully inadequate and is endangering the lives of consumers based on these mislabeled ingredient lists,” the filing reads.

Per the lawsuit, Daiso California, LLC and Daiso Holding USA, Inc. have “failed to systemically review the process of how these labels are translated,” even after being warned of the inadequacy of their English language labels.

In the summer of 2022, the plaintiff purchased a Tiramisu Twist Cookie from a Daiso Japan location in Daly City, California, the case relays. After reading the English language label and believing the product to be free of tree nuts—to which she is allergic—the plaintiff consumed the cookie, the complaint says. The woman had a serious allergic reaction to the product and had to be rushed to the hospital, the filing explains.

The lawsuit alleges that though the English language label the plaintiff read represented the product as free of tree nuts, the subsequent removal of the sticker revealed that the original ingredient list in Japanese identified two nuts as ingredients. An October 2022 warning to the defendants from the plaintiff’s attorney resulted in a “world-wide recall” of the cookie product the following day, the suit relays.

In December 2022, the plaintiff again visited the Daiso Japan location and purchased Tohato-brand Carmel Corn, the case explains. Before consuming the product, the plaintiff compared the English language sticker label with the original Japanese ingredient list on the packaging and found that, while the English language label gave no indication of the presence of tree nuts, the Japanese language ingredient list showed the product contained almonds, the complaint claims.

The filing contends that the alleged negligence of the defendants was “willful” and “wanton,” particularly because the companies had already been notified of a mistranslation and had subsequently issued a global recall of one of their products.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who purchased the Tiramisu Twist Cookie and/or Tohato-brand Carmel Corn products for personal use during the liability period.

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