First Circuit Holds Plaintiff Adequately Alleges Deceptive Practices Claim For No-Hazelnut Coffee Labeled “Hazelnut Créme” Despite Ingredient List Excluding Hazelnuts And Mentioning Artificial Flavors, Allegation Of Deception On Purchase Sufficiently Particular As Exact Date And Location Not Needed For Defendant To Respond, And Claim Not Preempted by Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act As Plaintiff Alleged FDCA Violation That Independently Violated State Law -
In Dumont v. Reily Foods Co., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 23710 (1st Cir. 2019), plaintiff bought a coffee called “Hazelnut Créme” that contained no hazelnuts and sued the manufacturer in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging the label violated Mass. Gen. L. ch. 93A, the state unfair and deceptive practices statute. The district court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss, holding the complaint contained insufficient detail regarding the circumstances of plaintiff’s purchase and hence violated Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b)’s requirement that fraud be pled with particularity.
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