The Can Says Certified San Marzano. A Lawsuit Says That's Not Italy's Seal.

On May 4, two California residents filed a proposed class action against Cento Fine Foods, the New Jersey distributor whose red-and-white cans sit on shelves in nearly every Italian grocery in America. The complaint, lodged in federal court in the Northern District of California, uses a blunt word: fraud. The plaintiffs say Cento's Certified San Marzano tomatoes are false, misleading, and unfair, that they bought more than a dozen cans believing they were the real thing, and that they would not have paid if they had known. They are asking a judge for at least $25 million and a change to how Cento labels the product.