Wegman's lawsuit alleges "food fraud" over vanilla ice cream made without vanilla beans

Two consumers are calling on Wegmans Food Markets for what a class action lawsuit "food fraud" for selling vanilla ice cream without the actual ingredient.

The couple – Quincy Steele of Pennsylvania and Jimmy Arriola of the Bronx, New York – claim that the supermarket chain tried to mislead them into believing that her ice cream contained real vanilla.

Their suit claims Wegman's used "natural vanilla flavor" instead of vanilla-based flavor or vanilla extract in some of the ice cream products. priced at a premium.

"By law, vanilla refers to & # 39; the total sapid and smelling principles that can be extracted from a unit weight of vanilla beans & # 39; according to the complaint, filed Friday in New York federal court.

Wegmans Food Markets

"& # 39; Natural Flavor & # 39; means that the products contain non-vanilla bean flavor, which is contrary to an ice cream flavor represented by an unqualified & # 39; Vanilla & # 39 ;," suit.

Competitive brands, including Ben & Jerry's list of vanilla bean seeds vanilla extract as the ingredients in their products.

Wegmans disputed the notion that their ice cream was promising by regulations or industry standards.

"We take great pride in the quality of all of our Wegmans brands. We believe that the labeling of our ice cream completely complies with all regulations and industry standards, and is not misleading in any way," a spokeswoman for the grocery chain said in an email.

The privately owned Rochester, New York-based grocery operates 99 stores in seven states.

The suit against Wegman is reminiscent of another case brought last year due to the lack of ginger in Canada Dry Ginger Ale .