Margarine mess is meat of potatoes suit
THEY CAN’T believe it’s not just butter.
A mashed potato maker is being sued by spud-loving shoppers who say they have been digging into a dish of deception.
Connoisseurs of the comfort food say Crystal Farms Refrigerated Distribution Company’s version of the classic side dish includes butter and margarine — which is not what the package promises, according to a new lawsuit.
“No reasonable consumer would expect a mashed potatoes product which highlights, ‘Made With REAL BUTTER’ in a golden seal, to contain the one product which is essentially the opposite of butter — margarine,” claims the class-action case filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
“The brand name ‘Diner’s Choice’ is unironically affixed to products where consumers (diners) do not get to make that all-important decision when it comes to mashed potatoes — choosing butter or margarine — and instead, they get both,” the suit said.
The paperwork even points out other mashed potatoes made just with butter, and noted an Allrecipes.com search for mashed potatoes with butter and margarine turned up exactly zero recipes.
Spencer Sheehan, the tater litigator, declined to comment.
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Sheehan is also whipping up two other Brooklyn federal cases over alleged tuber tragedies.
One suit is against Stop & Shop and another involves a brand called “Simply Potatoes,” which also mixes butter and margarine.
Lawyers defending the brand argue the butter battle is small potatoes.
“Plaintiff has not plausibly alleged how the statement ‘made with real butter’ is likely to deceive a reasonable consumer into believing Michael Foods’ mashed potato products do not contain margarine,” they wrote in court papers.
A spokeswoman for the parent company of Crystal Farms Refrigerated Distribution Co. declined to comment.
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Allan Wernick is an attorney and director of the City University of New York's Citizenship Now! project. Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, New York Daily News, 4 New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004 or email to questions@allanwernick. com. Follow him on Twitter @awernick.