A class-action lawsuit alleging that P.F. Chang’s use of an imitation crab mix – spelled “krab” on its menu – is confusing to customers has been dismissed.
Originally filed in 2019, the complaint alleged the restaurant chain falsely labeled some sushi rolls as containing crab when they do not actually contain the shellfish.
Plaintiff Chansue Kang said P.F. Chang’s labels its California Roll, Shrimp Tempura Roll, and Dragon Roll as containing “Krab Mix.” However, the rolls contain no actual crab; instead, they include imitation crab meat.
P.F. Chang’s has engaged in “unfair and deceptive practices” by implying that the Krab Mix resembles crab, is equivalent to crab meat, and/or contains crab meat, “when in fact, no crab meat exists and the Krab Mix is nutritionally inferior to crab meat,” the complaint said.
The complaint was originally dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge in California, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in February to let the case go forward, per Legal Newsline.
Both the plaintiff and P.F. Chang’s recently filed a joint motion for the case to be dismissed.
“After conducting written discovery and investigating the claims and defenses asserted in the lawsuit, Kang now wishes and respectfully requests to dismiss the lawsuit and operative complaint with prejudice,” according to court documents.
P.F. Chang’s called the lawsuit “nothing more than a cash grab,” Legal Newsline said.
However, the appeals court majority opinion stated “(The lawsuit) ultimately may not be borne out by the evidence, but it is at least plausible that reasonable consumers would be deceived in this way.”
“We certainly agree with defendant that reasonable consumers confronted with the fanciful spelling of ‘krab’ on the menu would not assume they were purchasing a sushi roll with 100 percent real crab meat,” the judges wrote, per Legal Newsline. “But the menu uses the term ‘krab mix,’ ’ and Kang’s allegation is that reasonable consumers would understand that term to mean the item contains a mixture of imitation and real crab.”
“The standard for misrepresentation is not whether the ‘least sophisticated’ or ‘most gullible’ consumer would be misled by the term ‘krab mix,’ but whether a significant portion of ordinary consumers, acting reasonably, would think ‘krab mix’ contains real crab meat,” the judges said.
Photo courtesy of DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock
