The Texas Pete hot sauce lawsuit, filed in California federal court in September 2022, accused the sauce’s North Carolina maker of misleading buyers into thinking the product came from Texas. A judge let the case proceed in July 2023, but the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed it three months later, and no similar suit has been filed since.
What the Lawsuit Claimed
Phillip White, a Los Angeles resident, sued T.W. Garner Food Company on September 12, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The case was captioned White v. T.W. Garner Food Co., No. 2:22-cv-06503.
White said he paid about $3 for a bottle at a Los Angeles supermarket, believing the sauce was made in Texas. His complaint singled out three elements on the label: the name “Texas Pete,” a white lone star resembling the one on the Texas state flag, and a cartoon cowboy with a lasso. Together, he argued, they created a false impression of Texas origin that consumers relied on when choosing the product or paying its price.
The complaint brought five claims under California and federal law: unfair competition, false advertising, violation of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, breach of warranty, and unjust enrichment. White asked the court to stop the company from using its current labels, to award damages equal to the price premium consumers paid, and to require a corrective advertising campaign.
Why the Judge Let the Case Move Forward
T.W. Garner moved to dismiss. The company argued that “Texas Pete” is a brand name rather than a geographic claim, that the back label states “T.W. Garner Food Co., Winston-Salem, NC 27105, Product of the U.S.A.,” and — in an argument that drew attention on its own — that “Texas” could refer to a small coastal town in North Carolina.
On July 31, 2023, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong denied the motion in a 20-page order. She found it plausible that a reasonable consumer would read “Texas” as modifying “Pete” and conclude the sauce came from the state of Texas. The lone star and cowboy imagery, while not exclusive to Texas, reinforced that possibility when read alongside the name.
The Winston-Salem address on the back label did not save the company at that stage. Judge Frimpong wrote that the address lacked an “explicit statement of origin” and would more likely be read as a corporate address than a manufacturing location. She suggested a label saying “manufactured in Winston-Salem, NC” might have produced a different outcome. On the North Carolina town argument, she noted that the state of Texas is widely known while the coastal town is “relatively unknown.”
The ruling did not decide that the labeling was actually deceptive. It held only that White had stated a plausible claim, which is the bar at the pleading stage. California’s standard asks whether “a significant portion of the general consuming public … acting reasonably in the circumstances, could be misled.”
Why the Case Was Dropped
The case never reached discovery or class certification. On September 28, 2023, White moved to voluntarily dismiss. His filings included declarations from White, his lead attorney Ryan J. Clarkson of the Clarkson Law Firm, and two other individuals, alleging harassment and intimidation by the defendant directed at White, his legal team, and their families. The specifics stayed in sealed declarations and were not made public.
On October 3, 2023, the parties filed a joint stipulation to dismiss. Judge Frimpong signed the order the next day, dismissing the case in its entirety without prejudice. That leaves open the theoretical possibility of a refiling by White or another plaintiff.
Ann Garner Riddle, then the company’s president and CEO, called the result a vindication. “We at TW Garner Food Co. are delighted with this result,” she said. “Since the lawsuit was filed, we have remained steadfast in our position that our product labels and trademark are truthful and not misleading in any respect and that the lawsuit had no merit.”
Where Texas Pete Is Actually Made
Texas Pete has been produced in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, since the 1940s. The Garner family started making sauces during the Great Depression. When it came time to name the hot sauce, a marketer proposed “Mexican Joe.” Sam Garner wanted something that sounded American, chose “Texas” for its association with spice, and paired it with the nickname of his son Harold, who went by “Pete.”
T.W. Garner Food Company was incorporated in 1946 by Sam’s sons Thad, Ralph, and Harold. It still operates from Winston-Salem and is run by the fourth generation of the family. During World War II, Texas Pete was sold as rations to the U.S. government, which helped build its distribution.
What Comes Next for the Label
Nothing about the bottle has changed. The company has not announced any revisions to the Texas Pete name, the lone star, or the cowboy, and no public record shows that White or any other plaintiff has refiled a geographic-origin claim against T.W. Garner since the October 2023 dismissal. Because the dismissal was without prejudice, a future suit is not foreclosed, but as of now the product on the shelf looks the same as it did before the case was filed.