Lawsuit Against Campbells Soup Moves Forward

CAMDEN, N.J.A U.S. District Court Judge in New Jersey is allowing a class-action lawsuit to proceed accusing Campbell Soup Co. of violating the state's Consumer Fraud Act by claiming the labels on Campbell's low-sodium tomato soup are misleading.

The lawsuit, filed by four New Jersey women, claims 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, U.S. 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."

Campbells said the allegations are without merit and plans to fight the case in court.