Lawsuit Claims Market Basket Shorted Customers On Coffee

BOSTON (CBS/AP) — A Massachusetts man sued supermarket chain Market Basket, which he alleges overstated the number of cups of coffee that could be made from a store brand can of coffee.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Boston alleges the Market Basket cans which contain roughly 11 ounces of coffee are labeled as containing enough coffee to brew 79 cups in the case of regular or 76 cups in the case of decaffeinated.

Read: Full Lawsuit

But the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, David Cohen, of Weymouth, alleges when he follows the directions on the can he can brew only 39 and 37 cups respectively.

"This means that consumers of the products, including plaintiff, were cheated out of 51% of the servings they paid for, in both cases, based on the advertising, marketing, and labeling of the products," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit says there are possibly tens of thousands of potential plaintiffs, and is asking for at least $25 in damages for each one.

A spokesperson for Tewksbury-based Market Basket told WBZ-TV the chain no longer sells the coffee in question.

"The label referenced in the lawsuit is no longer in our stores," the spokesperson said. "We believe the lawsuit has no merit."

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)