Did you know Texas Pete hot sauce is made in North Carolina? Well, a Los Angeles man says he didn’t, and now he has filed a class action lawsuit against Winston-Salem-based T.W. Garner Food Co. for alleged false advertising.

Garner Foods acknowledged the suit in a statement to FOX8, “We are aware of the current lawsuit that has been filed against our company regarding the Texas Pete’s brand name. We are currently investigating these assertions with our legal counsel to find the clearest and most effective way to respond.”

The complaint claims that in September 2021, Philip White purchased a $3 bottle of Texas Pete while shopping at a Ralph’s in Los Angeles. The complaint stated that White believed the goods to be a Texas product at the time of purchase because she relied upon the wording and visuals featured on the front label of the Product. According to White’s lawsuit, the label features the renowned white lone star from the Texan flag along with a lassoing cowboy, imagery that is quintessentially Texan.

What is regarded as a typical Louisiana-style hot sauce is Texas Pete. The three ingredients that make up Louisiana-style hot sauces—vinegar, chilies, and salt—are blended and fermented. Both Tabasco and Frank’s Red Hot are hot sauces made in Louisiana. The case claims that there is no such thing as a Texas-style spicy sauce. Ingredients from the Lone Star State with a distinctively Texan flavor profile are what define a Texas hot sauce. The complaint claims that the components for Texas Pete come from sources outside of Texas, although it does not specify where they are sourced.

It’s a simple inquiry, and the brand even admits that some people might find it confusing. On the website for the hot sauce company, the statement “With a name like Texas Pete, one would believe the legendary spicy sauce is created someplace in the Lone Star state” is highlighted from a Dec. 5, 2013, Triad Business Journal story.

So how did a wonderful red pepper sauce manufactured in North Carolina come to be known as “Texas Pete” in the first place?” the website asks on its history page. As an example, the brand uses “legend.” Sam Garner and his sons Thad, Ralph, and Harold consulted their marketing advisor when trying to come up with a name for their hot sauce, according to Texas Pete.

According to Texas Pete’s history by T.W. Garner Food Co., the concept was intended to allude to Texas’s reputation. According to the complaint, in explaining the reasoning behind its brand name, confesses that Texas’s reputation was one they were aiming to imitate and capitalize on when building its brand. Because Texas enjoys a certain mysticism and attractiveness in the consumer marketplace and is well-known for its high-quality cuisine, spicy food, and hot sauce, in particular, the complaint accuses Texas Pete of devising a deceptive marketing and labeling scheme. White claims he would not have purchased the spicy sauce or would have paid less for it if he had realized Texas Pete wasn’t created in Texas. Additionally, he thinks he’s not the only one.

The complaint states that “T.W. Garner Food Co. has cheated its way to a market-leading position in the $3 billion hot-sauce industry at the expense of law-abiding competitors and consumers nationwide who desire authentic Texas hot sauce and reasonably, but incorrectly, believe that is what they are getting when they purchase Texas Pete by representing that its Texas Pete brand hot sauce products are Texas products when they are not.

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