Fresh pickle maker Grillo’s Pickles has accused rival Wahlburgers of falsely advertising its pickles as ‘fresh,’ ‘all-natural’ and containing ‘no preservatives,’ when tests allegedly show the products contain “considerable amounts of benzoic acid,” which Grillo’s claims “is often added to foods via [the preservative] sodium benzoate.”
In a lawsuit* filed in New Jersey under the Lanham Act on Tuesday vs brand owner Wahlburgers I, LLC, Patriot Pickle Inc (which manufactures Wahlburgers pickles) and ARKK Food Company (which distributes them), Grillo’s accuses its rival of misleading consumers and retailers.
Wahlburgers pickles do not list any preservatives on product labels, notes the complaint, which claims that “recent lab tests” show the “amount of preservative found in Wahlburgers pickles far exceeds a trace amount, indicating it was added to these products despite what is claimed on their labels.”
According to the complaint, “Certificates of analysis from Biogen’s testing indicate Wahlburgers Hot Dill Chips pickles contain sodium benzoate in a concentration of 641ppm; Wahlburgers Dill Spears pickles contain sodium benzoate in a concentration of between 424 and 436ppm; and Wahlburgers Dill Chips pickles contain sodium benzoate in a concentration of 600ppm.”
[Editor's note: Sodium benzoate is generally recognized as safe by the FDA as an antimicrobial agent, flavoring agent, or adjuvant at a maximum use level of 0.1 percent in food.]
CLAIM: Video claiming President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had resigned. RATING: FALSE A YouTube video falsely claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had stepped down from office amid continue...