Company Settles Case on Baking Process Claims
Thursday, February 25, 2021
On February 16, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division granted final approval of a class action settlement, incentive reward, and attorneys’ fees and expenses that totaled more than $650,000. The settlement resulted from a 2018 lawsuit where plaintiffs argued that FGF Brands USA Inc. and FGF Brands, Inc. (defendants) made misleading claims regarding the baking process of their various naan products.
Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in 2018 against the defendants who sell naan Indian flatbread, challenging its “tandoor-baked naan” and “tandoor oven-baked to honor 2,000 years of tradition” claims as being false and misleading. Defendants baked the naan on a conveyor belt in a gas-heated commercial oven, not in traditional tandoor ovens, which are made from clay or stone. Plaintiffs claimed that there is no substitute for the flavor imparted by baking naan with a traditional stone or clay oven and that the defendants misled plaintiffs into believing that the baking process was devoid of automation or machinery and of a higher quality than mass-produced naan breads.