Overview
- The proposed class action, filed Monday in federal court in Northern California, says Cento misled buyers by branding its cans “Certified San Marzano” despite lacking the Italian DOP seal.
- The two California plaintiffs seek more than $25 million and ask a judge to order corrective ads for what they call premium-priced cans that were not authentic.
- Cento rejects the claims as “entirely without merit” and says its tomatoes are verified by Italian firm Agri-Cert with lot-code traceability and that it will seek prompt dismissal.
- Under Europe’s Protected Designation of Origin rules, only the San Marzano consortium certifies tomatoes grown in the Sarnese-Nocerino area to strict methods such as hand harvesting, which differs from private certification.
- The dispute echoes a New York case a judge dismissed in 2020, a precedent that could shape whether a reasonable consumer would read Cento’s label as official DOP approval.