|
A
New York City woman on Wednesday sued TGI Fridays, in a proposed
class action claiming that the company, known for its
restaurants, misleads consumers by selling "Potato Skins" snacks
that contain potato flakes and potato starch, but no skins.
The lawsuit by Solange Troncoso said the Idaho Potato Commission
and others inside and outside the industry have associated
potato skins with healthy eating since they started appearing on
restaurant menus a half-century ago.
It said TGI Fridays' misleading packaging for its bacon ranch,
cheddar and bacon, and sour cream and onion potato skins snacks
defrauded Troncoso and other consumers into purchasing an
"inferior product," either by mistake or at a "full" price.
"The presence of potato skins imparts a further value in the
eyes of reasonable consumers," according to the complaint filed
in Manhattan federal court, which seeks unspecified damages.
Troncoso said she sued after paying $1.99 last June for a bag of
TGI Fridays Sour Cream & Onion Potato Skins at a convenience
store in the borough of the Bronx, where she lives.
TGI Fridays did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The private equity firm Sentinel Capital Partners became
majority owner of the Carrollton, Texas-based company in 2014.
In a Feb. 2017 Eater article cited in the complaint, Richard
Melman, chairman of Chicago-based restaurant company Lettuce
Entertain You, said he began serving potato skins in 1971 after
his brother read how sailors ate them to stave off illness.
A spokeswoman for Melman declined to comment.
The case is Troncoso v TGI Friday's Inc, U.S. District Court,
Southern District of New York, No. 19-02735.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by
Marguerita Choy)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
