Wal-Mart sued over grated parmesan that is ‘up to 10 per cent wood’

Apparently the “100 per cent parmesan” claim on grated cheese in US stores is not true - the popular pasta topper also includes processed wood.

That is what Marc Moschetta has claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday against US retail titan Wal-Mart Stores, and Samantha Lewin alleged in her San Francisco suit against food giant Kraft last week.

Both suits say the labels on the Italian cheese sold by the two companies, claiming the contents are “100 per cent grated parmesan”, are untrue and deceptive.

“Independent testing shows that at least seven per cent to 10 per cent of the product is not parmesan cheese,” Moschetta said in his suit, filed in a US federal court in New York.

“In fact, at least seven per cent to 10 per cent of the product is cellulose, an anti-clumping agent derived from wood chips.”

Moschetta, alleging that consumers are deceived by the 100 per cent claim, said he would not have bought the cheese “at a premium price, and/or would have paid significantly less for the product, had he known that the ‘100 per cent’ representation is false.”