Shoppers who bought Great Value frozen shrimp at Walmart may be covered by a proposed class action alleging Walmart counted the weight of the ice glaze toward the net weight printed on the package, leaving bags up to 11% short on shrimp. No class has been certified and there is nothing to file yet.
Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet
This article describes a class action complaint. The statements below are unproven allegations. Walmart has not been found liable, there is no certified class, and nothing to claim at this time. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
An Illinois consumer has filed a proposed class action against Walmart Inc. over the company’s Great Value frozen shrimp. The case, Baptist v. Walmart Inc., was filed in early October 2026 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, a state court, according to Law360 and TipRanks reports.The complaint alleges that Walmart includes the weight of the ice glaze, the frozen water coating on the shrimp, in the net weight printed on Great Value shrimp packaging. According to the suit, that means shoppers receive less shrimp than the label states once the product is thawed and drained, with reports describing the alleged shortfall as up to 11%. Walmart has not responded in court, and none of the allegations has been proven.
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What the Complaint Alleges About Ice Glaze
Frozen shrimp is commonly sold with a glaze, a thin layer of water frozen onto each piece to protect it from freezer burn and drying out in storage. The glaze is not the issue in the lawsuit. The issue is how it is weighed. The plaintiff alleges that the net weight on Great Value shrimp packages includes the ice, so that a shopper paying for a stated weight of shrimp is, in part, paying for frozen water.Law360 reported that the suit accuses Walmart of shorting customers by including the ice glaze in the weight advertised on its Great Value shrimp packaging, which the complaint says can produce substantial differences in the product’s true weight once it is thawed and drained. IntraFish reported that the complaint puts the alleged overstatement at up to 11% of the stated weight. According to IntraFish, which cited the court records, the complaint asserts claims under Illinois consumer protection law and for breach of express and implied warranties, and the plaintiff has demanded a jury trial.
Great Value is Walmart’s store brand, and its frozen shrimp is sold in several counts and preparations. Which specific Great Value shrimp products, package sizes and purchase periods the complaint covers has not been published in the reporting available as of October 21, 2026.
What Federal Guidance Says About Glaze and Net Weight
The Food and Drug Administration has addressed this question directly. In a 1991 letter to seafood manufacturers, which the agency republished as guidance for industry in 2009, the FDA stated that the net weight of frozen seafood may not include the weight of glazing. The letter cites the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act’s ban on adding a substance to food to increase its bulk or weight, and the requirement under that law and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act that a package carry an accurate statement of net contents. In the agency’s view, overstating net contents by counting the glaze misbrands the product.The FDA measures this with a drained-weight procedure that removes the glaze before weighing. In a 2022–2024 sampling assignment of imported retail frozen seafood, the agency reported that 10 of 28 samples, eight of them shrimp, were short of their declared net weight by between 2.3% and 9.9%. Those samples were collected at U.S. ports of entry and were not identified as Walmart or Great Value products. FDA guidance describes the agency’s position; it does not decide private lawsuits, and whether Walmart’s labels comply is a question for the court in this case.
What Is Not Yet Known
The complaint itself has not been made publicly available outside subscription legal databases, and the public reporting leaves several details open:- the proposed class definition, including whether it covers Illinois purchasers only or buyers in other states;
- the specific Great Value shrimp products and package sizes named in the complaint;
- the class period;
- the damages or other relief requested.
Walmart’s Response and What Happens Next
A Walmart spokesperson told IntraFish that the company had not yet been served with the lawsuit and would respond in court once it was. The spokesperson added that “Walmart has policies in place to help ensure suppliers provide correctly labeled products.”Once Walmart is served, the next step would normally be an answer or a motion to dismiss. A defendant sued in state court may also seek to move a proposed class action to federal court. There is no settlement, no claim form and no deadline for anyone who bought Great Value frozen shrimp.
Walmart has faced grocery weight claims before. A separate case over certain sold-by-weight meat, poultry and seafood and bagged citrus sold at Walmart stores ended in the $45 million Walmart weighted groceries settlement, which has closed.
Questions
Who is included in the Walmart Great Value shrimp lawsuit?
The complaint was filed as a proposed class action in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, but the exact class definition, the products covered and the time period have not been published in the reporting available as of October 21, 2026. No court has certified any class.
What is ice glaze on frozen shrimp?
Ice glaze is a thin coating of water that processors freeze onto seafood to protect it from freezer burn and dehydration during storage. The FDA describes glazing as a common industry practice and notes that the longer a product may be frozen, the thicker the glaze typically is.
What does the FDA say about ice glaze and net weight?
FDA guidance, first issued to the seafood industry in 1991, states that the net weight of frozen seafood may not include the weight of the glazing. The agency treats overstating net contents this way as misbranding under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act. Whether Walmart's Great Value shrimp labels meet that standard is what the lawsuit disputes, and no court has decided it.
Has Walmart responded to the shrimp lawsuit?
A Walmart spokesperson told IntraFish the company had not yet been served and would respond in court once it was, adding that Walmart has policies in place to help ensure suppliers provide correctly labeled products. Walmart has not filed a response in court, and the allegations are unproven.
Is there a Walmart shrimp settlement or claim form?
There is no settlement, claim form or deadline. The case is at the complaint stage. If a class is later certified or a settlement is reached, notice would normally go to class members, and people covered by a class would not need to have joined the lawsuit beforehand.
Sources
- TipRanks — “Walmart Stock (WMT) Treads Water After Shrimp Class Action Lawsuit,” October 21, 2026
- Law360 — “Walmart Shorts Customers On Shrimp Weight, Ill. Suit Says,” October 13, 2026 (subscription)
- IntraFish — “Lawsuit claims Walmart shrimp up to 11% short on weight,” October 20, 2026, including Walmart’s statement
- Undercurrent News — “Walmart faces lawsuit over alleged underweight Great Value shrimp,” October 20, 2026 (subscription)
- FDA Guidance for Industry — 1991 Letter to Seafood Manufacturers on Including Glaze (Ice) in the Weight of Frozen Seafood
- FDA — Sample Collection and Analysis of Imported Frozen Seafood for Economically Motivated Adulteration, 2022–24
