SANTA MONICA, CALIF. – Jack Link’s was recently named in a class action lawsuit regarding labeling used on its meat snack products. 

A consumer in the state of Washington filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington and alleges that the company violated the consumer protection laws of many states with its label of “No added MSG.”

The complaint said that “because consumers use the term ‘MSG’ to refer to free glutamates generally (as opposed to the sodium salt form of free glutamate specifically) a reasonable consumer would understand a claim of ‘No added MSG’ to mean that a food product labeled or described in this manner does not contain free glutamates—in sodium salt form or otherwise.”

Additional information from the lawsuit said that the autolyzed yeast extract is a source of free glutamates including MSG. The complaint also says that none of this information is disclosed in Jack Link’s advertisements or packaging. 

“The lawsuit alleges that Jack Link’s misled its customers about its products so that it could charge more for them, and that this violated consumer protection laws,” said Jonas Jacobson of the law firm Dovel & Luner. “We and our co-counsel at Broslavsky & Weinman, LLP brought this lawsuit to stop this misleading labeling and to compensate consumers who overpaid for Jack Links’ products.”

Jack Link’s did not respond to a request for comment via email.