Real Smoke? Aldi Hit with Class Action Over Packaging of ‘Smoked White Cheddar’

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A proposed class action claims the packaging of Aldi’s “Smoked White Cheddar—Deli Sliced Cheese” is misleading to buyers in that it does not disclose that the product’s flavor is derived from “natural smoke flavor” and not the process of being smoked.

Per the case, consumers who bought the white cheddar based on Aldi’s packaging representations would not have purchased the product, or would have paid less for it, had they known the cheese was not actually smoked.

“Since the food is labeled as ‘Smoked White Cheddar Cheese,’ consumers expect its smoked flavor is from being smoked over wood chips,” the complaint reads. “However, the Product’s smoked flavor is not from being smoked over wood chips, but from added ‘liquid smoke’ flavor, identified as ‘natural smoke flavor’ on the ingredient list.”

The lawsuit explains that consumers prefer foods flavored by an ingredient or natural production process, i.e., smoking, to the “liquid smoke” manufactured in a laboratory for reasons that include nutrition, health and the avoidance of highly processed ingredients. Smoking, the case says, is a processing method whereby a food is preserved and flavored through exposure to smoke, usually from burning wood.

The alternative method for obtaining a smokey flavor in cheese is to add “smoke flavor,” which is “smoke condensed into a liquid form,” the suit relays. Per the case, this method, while more convenient, fails to provide the “rich, layered taste” from phenols and other odor-active compounds present in smoked food. Moreover, the various additives in smoke flavor have been associated with “detrimental health impacts,” the suit adds.

The lawsuit argues that the front label of Aldi’s “Smoked White Cheddar” product, absent any qualifiers such as “naturally flavored,” “other natural flavors” or “artificially flavored,” leads consumers to mistakenly expect that the cheese obtains its flavor by being smoked.

“Consumers are misled because the front label fails to tell them what the Product is – ‘Natural Smoke Flavored White Cheddar Cheese’ – in violation of the requirements of federal and state law,” the complaint alleges.

Per the case, the FDA has warned against labeling foods with added smoked flavor in a way that deceives consumers into believing the product is actually smoked, noting that any added smoke ingredients must be disclosed on the front label. The suit argues that although Aldi discloses the “natural smoke flavor” among the cheese’s ingredients, consumers should not be expected to scrutinize the back label to confirm the front label claims.

According to the lawsuit, the marketing and packaging of the “Smoked White Cheddar” product is “designed to—and does—deceive, mislead, and defraud” consumers.

The lawsuit echoes previous litigation filed against Dietz & Watson’s apparently misleading labeling of its “smoked” provolone and gouda cheeses.

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