Cholula Original Hot Sauce contains different ingredients following McCormick purchase, new class action claims

On Aug. 10, 2026, New York resident LaTonya Wright filed a class action lawsuit against McCormick & Co. Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The complaint claims McCormick reformulated Cholula Original Hot Sauce when it bought the brand without disclosing the change to customers.

Hot sauce ingredients changed, lawsuit claims

McCormick purchased Cholula on Nov. 24, 2020. Before that, the proposed class action alleges the ingredient list included water, arbol and piquin peppers, salt, vinegar, garlic powder, spices and xanthan gum. However, the current list includes water, arbol and piquin peppers, salt, acetic acid, xanthan gum, spices, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder and natural flavor, according to the lawsuit.

McCormick did not divulge the changes on the package or in its marketing, the lawsuit alleges.

The complaint notes that acetic acid replaced vinegar as the four ingredient. Wright's lawyers cite a position the Food and Drug Administration took as far back as 1952 and quote its compliance manual as saying, "diluted acetic acid is not a vinegar of any kind." The manual also advises against using acetic acid in foods consumers customarily expect to contain vinegar, and the same section says acetic acid should not substitute for vinegar in pickled products.

The class action complaint contends McCormick swapped in cheaper, less traditional ingredients to cut production costs while charging a premium built on the sauce's history.

Wright says she used Cholula for years as her go-to hot sauce and, in 2026, claims she purchased a 5-ounce bottle at the $5.99 suggested retail price from a Food Bazaar grocery store in Brooklyn. She claims she would not have paid that price, or bought the product at all, had she known about the reformulation.

The legal claims

The suit brings two counts under New York law:

  • New York General Business Law Section 349, the state's deceptive practices statute, which allows $50 in statutory damages per unit purchased
  • New York General Business Law Section 350, which bars false advertising and allows $500 per unit

Statutory damages are a fixed sum set by law so class members would not need to prove individual losses. Wright also seeks compensatory damages, restitution, disgorgement of profits, attorneys' fees and a jury trial.

What this means for New York hot sauce buyers

The proposed class covers New York consumers who bought Cholula Original Hot Sauce.

As of this writing, there is no court ruling, settlement, claims process or money available.