Amazon has been hit with a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of providing misleading and potentially false information about the sourcing of some of its seafood products.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, cites the company’s use of terms such as “sustainable,” “sustainably sourced,” “wild caught,” “traceable” and “dolphin safe” to describe seafood products.
“The sustainability claims create the net impression that the greenwashed seafood products are sourced in a manner that causes minimal harm to the planet and our oceans—an impression that is at best unsubstantiated and at worst materially false,” the lawsuit states.
The suit also claims the Marine Stewardship Council certification that appears on many Amazon seafood items “is similarly misleading.”
Neither Amazon nor the MSC could be reached for comment.
The suit claims that by making the claims about sustainability, Amazon is able to charge a premium, thus causing harm to consumers by leading them to buy products they otherwise would not have purchased.
One of the plaintiffs, Madeline Rogow of Los Angeles, purchased sockeye salmon fillets and canned albacore tuna under the 365 by Whole Foods Market private label through Amazon’s marketplace early last year, after reading sustainability claims on the website’s product detail pages, according to the lawsuit.
The other plaintiff, Adam Sorkin of Chicago, purchased several...
Amazon has been hit with a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of providing misleading and potentially false information about the sourcing of some of its seafood products. The complaint, fi...