Pork producer, grocer sued over label

Retirees are said to be in it. Amazon rewards you for subscribing to it. It can only be divided by itself and the number 1. And only the juiciest, priciest restaurant-caliber steaks earn its grade from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

But it can’t be claimed for pigs no matter what Tyson Fresh Meats and The Fresh Market grocery chain say, a new lawsuit claims.

What is it? It’s the designation of prime, and a group of Miami-Dade County consumers say the two companies improperly use the term to deceive shoppers into purchasing a Tyson product called Chairman’s Reserve Prime Pork, according to the suit filed Oct. 15 in U.S. District Court in Miami.

Tyson did not respond to a request for comment submitted through its media relations web page. A Fresh Market spokeswoman said by email that “we believe the lawsuit is without merit.”

The suit accuses Tyson and Fresh Market of violating unfair trade laws in Florida and other states by associating its pork product with the “known quality and prestige of USDA prime beef.”

But “in reality, there’s no such thing as ‘Prime’ pork,” the suit states. “The product is not graded by the USDA as “prime.” In fact, the USDA does not provide grades for pork in a fashion similar to beef.”

Consumers are accustomed to paying a premium price for beef that carries the USDA’s prime grade, the lawsuit says. Anyone who bought Tyson’s pork product because of the prime designation “paid more money for the product than they would have paid had they known that there is no such thing as “prime” pork or that the product was not graded as prime by the USDA,” the suit claims.

Ten plaintiffs who purchased the product are named in the suit, including seven from Miami-Dade and one from Leon County. The others are from Cobb County in Georgia and Ocean County in New Jersey. The plaintiffs are represented by two South Florida law firms — Solowsky & Allen P.I. of Miami and Mansfield, Bronstein & Stone of Fort Lauderdale.

Tyson Fresh Meats, a subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc., and The Fresh Market are corporations registered in Delaware.

The suit, which seeks class status, identifies potential plaintiffs as anyone who bought Tyson’s “prime” pork product since Feb. 1, 2017, or who bought it at 161 Fresh Market stores in 22 states, including 46 in Florida, since May 1, 2019.

The suit seeks more than $5 million, plus interest and costs.

Tyson markets its “prime” pork product alongside its USDA prime beef product on a website targeted to retailers. The website positions Tyson’s “prime” pork as superior to its “premium” pork, much as the USDA grades prime beef above USDA choice beef.

The USDA applies prime and choice classifications to not only beef but also to veal/calf and lamb.

Prime-graded beef is described on the USDA’s website as produced from “young, well-fed” beef cattle. It has “abundant marbling” — streaks of fat that give meat its flavor — and generally is sold in restaurants and hotels.

By comparison, the FDA defines choice-graded beef as high quality, “very tender, juicy and flavorful” but with less marbling than prime.

Prime and choice grades, however, “are not acceptable terms for raw cuts of

pork or poultry,” the USDA’s site states.

Poultry is graded A, B, or C, with A-graded poultry free of defects such as bruises, discolorations and feathers. A-graded poultry is the only grade likely found in stores.

Pork gets no USDA quality grade because it is generally produced “from young animals that have been bred and fed to produce more uniformly tender meat,” the USDA states. Consumers should look for firm, grayish pink cuts with a relatively small amount of fat over the outside and a small amount of marbling.

Tyson’s website describes its prime pork as meeting high color and marbling standards “for the most tender, juicy and flavorful pork.”

Marketing materials accompanying the introduction of the product at Fresh Market directly compared Tyson’s “prime” pork to prime-graded beef, the suit states. Peter Mayes, Fresh Market’s director of meat merchandising, was quoted in one release as saying, “We’re excited to provide our guests with fresh pork that’s the same caliber as our prime beef offerings.”

COURTESY Marketing pork as “prime” is deceptive because consumers associate the word prime with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s official quality grades for beef, veal and calf, says a new lawsuit filed against The Fresh Market and Tyson Fresh Meats Inc.