US meat and meat-alternatives industry Don Lee Farms has filed a brand new federal lawsuit in opposition to native plant-based protein heavyweight Past Meat and its CEO Ethan Brown.
The lawsuit, filed within the Central District of California, claims the Past Burger maker overstates the protein worth of its merchandise by means of as much as 30% and has falsely represented that its merchandise are loose from artificial substances.
Past Meat could also be going through a shopper magnificence motion – Adam Sorkin et al – which was once filed in Illinois ultimate Tuesday (31 Would possibly). That swimsuit the corporate misstates the share of protein in its merchandise.
California-based Don Lee Farms was once in the past the unique provider of the Past Burger and different Past Meat merchandise.
It in the past sued the plant-based meat corporate in California Awesome Courtroom after its contract was once terminated in 2017, accusing it of breach of contract, unpaid cash, fraud and making the most of Don Lee Farms. The case is ready to visit trial in September.
In its newest lawsuit in opposition to Past Meat, filed on Thursday (2 June), Don Lee Farms alleges that the corporate’s claims “are central to Past’s pitch to shoppers, industry companions, shops, and traders”.
The grievance quotes CEO Brown as declaring that Past Meat’s “dedication to all herbal” is on the very “core of [their] corporate.” On the other hand, Don Lee Farms is going directly to allege that “Past Meat’s Past Burgers include methylcellulose – an component that the clinical literature recognises does now not happen naturally and is synthetically produced”.
The grievance additionally attaches trying out effects “carried out by means of an international- accepted laboratory that adopted rigorous trying out strategies.” Consistent with the grievance, this trying out presentations Past Meat, additionally founded in California, has inflated its protein claims by means of upwards of 30% and has “brought about misbranded items to be bought during the provision chain”.
Simply Meals has requested Past Meat for a reaction to Don Lee Farms’ claims and the ones of the patron magnificence motion.