Texas Pete hot sauce sued after consumer learns product is made in North Carolina

A California man is suing hot sauce maker Texas Pete after learning the sauce isn’t made in the Lone Star State.

In a class action lawsuit filed last month, Phillip White claimed he purchased a bottle of Texas Pete hot sauce for about $3 at a Los Angeles supermarket in September 2021, believing it was produced in Texas, according to the complaint.

After learning the hot sauce was made in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he claimed the company was using false advertising. He further claimed that he would not have bought the bottle or paid as much for it if he had known where it was produced.

"By way of its false marketing and labeling, [Texas Pete] knowingly and intentionally capitalizes on consumers’ desire to partake in the culture and authentic cuisine of one of the most prideful states in America," the complaint alleges.

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Texas Pete explains the origin of its hot sauce on the company’s website.

"So how is it that a tasty red pepper sauce made in North Carolina happens to be named ‘Texas Pete’ anyway?" reads the website. 

According to the site, hot sauce creator Sam Garner named the sauce wanted to give the sauce an American name. It says that Garner bestowed the name "Texas Pete" on the sauce because of Texas’ "reputation for spicy cuisine" and as a nod to his son Harold’s nickname, Pete.

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The lawsuit is seeking the company to pay for damages and to change its name and branding.

The company has until Nov. 10 to respond to the complaint.