Customer Sues Texas Pete Hot Sauce For Being Made In North Carolina

A hot sauce lover is suing the maker of Texas Pete for false advertising, alleging the spicy condiment is manufactured outside the Lone Star State with non-Texas ingredients. 

Phillip White of Los Angeles bought a bottle of Texas Pete hot sauce last September but claims he would never have purchased it had he known it wasn't truly from Texas, according to the lawsuit, filed last month in federal court in California.

For something to be labeled as Texas hot sauce, the ingredients should at least come from that state, argues the suit, which also accuses TW Garner Food of manufacturing the sauce in a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, factory.

TW Garner Food told CBS MoneyWatch on Monday that it's investigating White's claims. The North Carolina company is looking for the "most effective way to respond," a spokesperson said in a statement. 

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, asks a California judge to force TW Garner Food to pay damages and to remove the word "Texas" from its labeling. White paid $3 for the bottle of hot sauce he purchased at a Ralph's store last year, according to the lawsuit. 

Key differences in hot sauces

White's lawsuit claims there are key differences among hot sauces sold in the U.S. Most consumers are familiar with Tabasco and Frank's Red Hot, which are Louisiana-style hot sauces made from water, chili peppers, vinegar and salt. There are also Mexican-style hot sauces like Cholula and Valentina, which are made in that country from salt, water and vinegar with peppers grown in Mexico. 

"Texas hot sauces, on the other hand, must be either made in Texas [or] from ingredients sourced from Texas," the lawsuit states, adding that Truly Texas from Houston and Tears of Joy from Austin are examples of Texas hot sauce.

TW Garner Food named its hot sauce Texas Pete nearly nine decades ago as part of a marketing strategy to depict how spicy the product was, according to the company's website. Back then, the company was run by Sam Garner, who had a son named Harold, nicknamed "Pete." Texas had a reputation for spicy foods so Garner combined the state name and his son's nickname.

Today, the Garner factory in Winston-Salem sits on the site of the former Garner home, according to the website, which also states: "And the legendary Texas Pete, proud of his cowboy heritage but also a proud North Carolinian, continues to thrive!"

Hot sauce became a $2.1 billion industry last year, according to Fortune Business Insights. The market is expected to reach $2.8 billion this year and $4.7 billion in 2029, Fortune Business said. 

First published on October 10, 2022 / 3:17 PM

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