There are plenty of interesting lawsuits involving agriculture and food policy and the law that have been making their way through the court system. This blog has reported on many of these suits, and now one more is added to the list. The suit is DeBenedetto v. Denny’s Corporation. To view the class action complaint click here.The class action suit is based on the disclosure of sodium content on Denny’s menus, or lack thereof. The claims fall under a New Jersey consumer fraud statute, N.J.S.A. 56:8-1, et seq., which can be view by clicking here, as well as the breach of implied warranty of merchantability, which falls under New Jersey Uniform Commercial Code, N.J.S.A. 12A:2-314(1)-(2), which can be found by clicking here.
The Center For Science In The Public Interest (CSPI) is supporting the man who filed the lawsuit in Superior Court of New Jersey in Middlesex County. According to a news release on CSPI’s website, the suit seeks to require Denny’s to disclose its sodium content for each item on the menu and place on the menu a warning about high sodium levels. The news release can be viewed by clicking here.
CSPI claims that “[s]ome meals at Denny’s provide more than 4,000 or 5,000mg of sodium—more than most adults should consume in three days. CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson states in the organization’s news release that ‘“ . . . it’s dangerous to eat at Denny’s. Denny’s customers deserve to be warned about the considerable health risk posed by many of these meals.”’
The plaintiff in this case is 48-year-old Tinton Falls, NJ resident Nick DeBenedetto. Mr. DeBenedetto has dined at Denny’s over several years, but Mr. DeBenedetto also has high blood pressure that requires him to take prescription medication, and when he cooks at home he does so without using salt. However, his favorite meals at Denny’s contain more milligrams of sodium than the average adult should consume in a day (based on Centers for Disease Control recommendations).
According to the CSPI news release, these meals include the Moons Over My Hammy sandwich (2,580 mg sodium), the Super Bird Sandwich, served with regular fries (2,610 mg), and Denny’s Meat Lover’s Scramble, (5,690 mg sodium). Upon learning of the sodium levels in his favorite meals, Mr. DeBenedetto stated, ‘"I was astonished—I mean, literally floored—to find that these simple sandwiches have more salt than someone in my condition should have in a whole day . . . It's as if Denny's is stacking the deck against people like me. I never would have selected those items had I known."’
According to CSPI, Denny’s describes its company as the “largest full-service family restaurant in the United States." Denny’s has 1,500 restaurants and annual sales of $2.4 billion. CSPI has sued several national food companies in the past, though this suit is the organization's first “sodium-related lawsuit against a food company.”
Looks like another interesting lawsuit to add to the growing list.
Posted: 08/21/09
