Man sues makers of Texas Pete hot sauce because it’s...not made in Texas (gasp!)

Texas Pete hot sauce, featuring multiple flavors (Courtesy Texas Pete/ T.W. Garner Food Company)

HOUSTON – A man has filed a lawsuit against the makers of Texas Pete hot sauce, claiming the product is not actually made in Texas.

*insert gasping crowd in the background*

Recommended Videos



In a report from USA Today, California resident Phillip White purchased a bottle of the hot sauce in September of last year, believing that the sauce was actually made in Texas.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, the sauce was branded as “Texas Pete” but White claimed there is “surprising(ly) nothing Texas about them,” and the ingredients are “sourced outside the state of Texas, at a factory in North Carolina.”

A marketing adviser told USA Today that the company’s founder landed on Texas Pete because of the state’s “reputation for spicy cuisine,” and a nod to his son’s nickname.

However, White disagreed. He alleged in the lawsuit that the makers “knowingly capitalized consumers’ desire to partake in the culture and authentic cuisine of one of the most prideful states of America.”

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including White’s attorneys, are asking the parent company of Texas Pete, T.W. Garner Food Co. to pay for damages and change the brand name.

What are your thoughts on this move? Tell us in the comments below.


About the Author:

A graduate of the University of Houston-Downtown, Ana moved to H-Town from sunny southern California in 2015. In 2020, she joined the KPRC 2 digital team as an intern. Ana is a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, a catmom of 3, and an aquarium enthusiast. In her spare time, she's an avid video gamer and loves to travel.