Napa Olive Lover Files 'Landmark' Lawsuit After Breaking Tooth

NAPA, CA -- A Napa man is asking food company Mezzetta to put warning labels on its olive jars after he broke his tooth eating one. Mark Halper, a regular olive eater, told the Napa Valley Register that he filed his "landmark" lawsuit in December.

Halper said he broke his tooth last July after biting down onto a Mezzetta olive. Halper has reportedly filed multiple claims with the food company in the past, the Register reported.

But, this time, Halper is taking his lawsuit further. He wants the company to change the wording on its warning labels.

The olive jars currently have a warning that read "“Caution: Due to mechanical pitting, a pit or pit fragment may remain in the olive," but Halper wants it to read “Warning – serious danger – do not attempt to eat without personally physically opening up each Kalamata olive and probing for an olive pit,” or “Warning – Consuming these pitted Kalamata olives may result in serious injury to your teeth by biting down on a pit or pit fragments which may have not been removed," the Register reported.

"Halper says that he wants all olive processing companies to take more responsibility in either marking their products or ensuring that the pits are actually removed," the Register said.

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