Published
July 20, 2023
Updated
August 1, 2026
The $900,000 settlement covered certain shelf-stable TGI Fridays-branded snacks labeled as mozzarella sticks. Claims closed in 2023, and the court granted final approval that October.
Current Status
Claims are closed. The deadline was September 25, 2023, and the court granted final approval on October 30, 2023. The signed order confirms approval but does not itself prove when every valid claim was paid. The former administrator site no longer provides a reliable public distribution update, so payment completion is not stated as confirmed.StatusFinal Approval Granted; Payment Update Not Public
Claim DeadlineSeptember 25, 2023 — Passed
Settlement Fund$900,000
Historical BenefitUp to $6 per Household
What Was the Mozzarella Snacks Case About?
The lawsuit alleged that the front label of certain TGI Fridays Mozzarella Sticks Snacks could lead reasonable consumers to believe the shelf-stable snack contained mozzarella cheese. The complaint said the product instead contained cheddar cheese and that buyers paid a price premium because of the mozzarella wording and imagery. Inventure Foods disputed liability and resolved the claims through a $900,000 settlement.Was TGI Fridays Still a Defendant?
No. The court dismissed TGI Friday's, Inc. from the case in November 2022 after concluding that the allegations and packaging showed its role as the trademark licensor and did not adequately state a misleading-representation claim against it. The settlement that later received approval was with Inventure Foods, the manufacturer and distributor of the branded shelf-stable snacks. The familiar restaurant name remained relevant because it appeared on the products, but the restaurant company was not the settling defendant.Who Was Included?
The settlement class covered people in the United States who purchased any size or variety of eligible shelf-stable TGI Fridays brand snack from January 1, 2017, through July 31, 2022. Eligible products were manufactured, distributed, or sold by Inventure and labeled with the phrase TGI Fridays Mozzarella Sticks Snacks or similar wording. The category included Original, Original Flavor, and Original Flavor Baked varieties. Frozen or refrigerated restaurant-style mozzarella sticks were not part of this shelf-stable snack settlement.What Benefit Was Offered?
A valid claim could receive up to $6, with a maximum of one claim per household. The amount was paid from the net settlement fund after court-approved fees, expenses, administration, and the allocation required by the agreement. Six dollars was the household cap described in the claim process, not a promise that every product purchase generated a separate payment.Was Proof of Purchase Required?
The historical claim did not require a receipt. Claimants still had to attest that they purchased an eligible product during the class period and submit a timely, valid form. Because the administrator site is no longer reliably available, this page cannot independently reopen or reproduce the old claim process. The no-receipt feature did not extend the September 2023 deadline.What Did the Final Approval Order Decide?
The October 30, 2023 order certified the settlement class for settlement purposes, found the notice program adequate, and approved the agreement as fair, reasonable, and adequate. It recorded one exclusion and no objections. The order also dismissed the settled claims under the agreement. It did not provide a public ledger showing the date on which each individual claimant received money.Why Payment Completion Is Not Assumed
A final approval order is a required legal milestone, but distribution still requires the effective date, claim processing, and payment administration. The old page predicted payments after approval and any appeals; that prediction is now historical. Without a current administrator notice or post-distribution filing, the safer status is final approval granted with later public payment information unavailable.What Should Former Claimants Do?
Keep the submission confirmation and any check or digital-payment notice previously received. The claim period cannot be reopened through OpenClassActions. Court documents can confirm the approval history, but individual payment questions depend on records from the former administrator or the claimant's own payment history.Official Information
Review the latest information on the federal court final approval order website.
Case
Joseph v. Inventure Foods, Inc.
Case Number
1:21-cv-01340
Court
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Class Period
January 1, 2017–July 31, 2022
Settlement Fund
$900,000
Claim Deadline
September 25, 2023
Final Approval
October 30, 2023
Official Website
federal court final approval order
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