Alt meat startup Meati Foods has settled a putative class action lawsuit alleging it falsely advertised its cutlets and steaks as ‘made from mushroom root’ when they are in fact made from a strain of filamentous fungus called Neurospora Crassa, a type of mold.
The firm did not provide any details of the settlement, but confirmed the case* — filed in the Eastern District of California in July — has been voluntarily dismissed. As the case has been privately settled, and no class has been certified to bind all potential plaintiffs, other plaintiffs could potentially sue over the same claims.
The case mirrored a class action filed in 2016 versus Quorn Foods, which was accused of misleading shoppers by suggesting its meat alternatives—which are made from a different type of fungus called Fusarium Venenatum — were “substantially similar to a mushroom.”
Quorn ultimately came to a settlement in which it agreed to add disclosures to labels stating that, “Mycoprotein is a mold member of the fungi family. There have been rare cases of allergic reactions to products that contain mycoprotein.”
According to the complaint versus Meati: “If defendants had accurately disclosed that Meati products were made of mold and were not made from any part of a mushroom, the market value of those products would be substantially less than the prices paid by plaintiff and the [proposed] California class.”
Meati, which now sells products in 7,000+ stores across the US, has recently moved away from using the term “mushroom root,” a phrase that no longer appears on its website, and had begun the process of updating its packaging well before the lawsuit was filed, a spokesperson told AgFunderNews in July.
“Over the past few months, we’ve been moving towards calling Meati exactly what it is—mycelium—out of a spirit of simplicity and transparency. Consumers are savvy, and even though they might not have heard of mycelium in the past, we believe that once they taste and understand its health benefits, they’ll adopt the new language. Mycelium is a powerhouse; it’s a great nutritious product that meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans alike can enjoy.”
*The case is Serena Caldeira vs. Emergy inc. doing business as Meati Foods. 2:24-cv-01775
