Huh, interesting take on things here. The Talenti pistachio doesn’t contain any whole nuts from what I recall, it’s more of a blend. Just thought this was a stylistic difference compared to having whole nuts, perhaps since Talenti is supposed to be gelato.
Shrug
Traditional pistachio gelato is typically made from smooth pistachio paste/butter with 40% pistachio in the contents. You can also grind your own, but that's a lot of work when you have to get the skins off. Not that Talenti is exactly that, but it's closer than Cold Stone.
Also worth mentioning that what Americans consider gelato (the Italian word for ice cream) is only a subset of Italian Ice Cream, so they probably have other varieties of gelato with pistachio pieces.
According to TFA, pistachios are not listed as an ingredient. Maybe they are a part of natural and artificial ingredients or maybe some other natural ingredient is more convincing.
Not only that, but part of the plaintiff's case is that pistachio is generally a listed ingredient among competitor's products, even so-called "discount brands."
There's nothing derived from pistachios though. According to the article, it's a completely synthetic flavor derived from chemical sources not connected to pistachios.
It's interesting that the plaintiff brought similar claims for a variety of flavors[1], but the judge threw most of them out, with pistachio being the sole exception[2].
[1] TFA: `Duncan also attacks other Cold Stone flavors like mango, coconut, mint, orange and butter pecan, and orange sherbet, claiming they are "merely flavored after their named ingredients."'
> With respect to these products, plaintiff offers far less support. No mention is made of competitor products. No survey evidence is offered as to these additional offenders with the sole exception of Mint Ice Cream, noted above. And, importantly, perhaps driven by the axiom that begins “fool me once,” there is no suggestion that plaintiff purchased any of the other accused ice creams, and apparently plaintiff had the willpower to resist the allure of the Orange Sorbet—or for that matter any of defendant’s sorbets.
Well, Judge Brown was certainly in a fine mood that day.
It appears as if the plaintiff did examine other ice cream brands and concluded that they do contain pistachios, so consumers have a right to expect that. That at least lets the suit go forward, though it's not clear if it's winnable.
There is standard language around this, though, at least when you sell something in packages. If it's only "flavored" you'd have to say "pistachio flavored", or even "pistachio flavored with other natural flavors". Cold Stone really should have a compliance officer who knows that. I don't know how it applies to a restaurant menu, though.
No idea about Cold Stone specifically, but many items in the ice cream section are labeled "frozen dairy dessert" and not "ice cream" because they do not meet the legal requirements for ice cream in the US.
