NEW YORK (PRNewswire)-- Four New Jersey housewives sued Campbell Soup in a national class action charging that the labels on Campbell's low sodium tomato soup products were misleading in that the "low sodium" soups actually contained approximately as much sodium as Campbell's regular tomato soup. They claim they were misled into paying for more expensive soup even though it did not contain less sodium than the cheaper alternative, which was identical for their purposes.
In his decision, United States District Judge Jerome B. Simandle said, "Plaintiffs allege that they were misled into thinking that the more expensive less-sodium soups contained significantly less sodium that the cheaper regular tomato soup because of the labels on each less-sodium soup bought... and were therefore willing to pay more for the less-sodium soup.... It is a plausible inference from the facts alleged that it was reasonable for Plaintiffs to expect that the soups they were receiving had 25%-30% less sodium than the regular tomato soup, when the soups in fact had approximately the same amount of sodium."
Lester L. Levy, of Wolf Popper LLP, who represents the homemakers, said, "Consumers should not have to read the back of the soup can to be sure the information on the front is truthful."
The case is being prosecuted by Wolf Popper LLP, a New York City law firm and Cohn, Lifland, Pearlman, Herrmann & Knopf LLC, a Saddlebrook, New Jersey law firm.