Siete chips lawsuit: what it claims and who could get paid

What the Siete chips lawsuit claims

Two Siete chips sit at the center of the cases: Kettle Cooked Sea Salt Potato Chips and Maíz Sea Salt Corn Tortilla Chips. The front of each bag says "Made with Avocado Oil," and the ingredient list names avocado oil as the only oil. The lawsuits say that isn't what's in the bag.

They rely on a study by UC Davis food scientists, published in Applied Food Research in July 2026. Researchers extracted the oil from avocado-oil-labeled foods and compared its fatty acid and sterol profile with the international standard for authentic avocado oil. UC Davis reports that 48 of 54 avocado-oil-labeled products (89%) didn't match, including 93% of the chips, versus 1 of 20 olive-oil-labeled products. According to the Jung complaint, both Siete chips were tested in two production lots and every lot was flagged, with palmitoleic acid at 0.6% to 1.5% against 4.0% to 17.1% for authentic avocado oil. The researchers also fried chips in genuine avocado oil and found frying changed the markers only minimally.

Plaintiffs say cheaper seed oils were substituted or blended in, and that shoppers who paid extra for avocado oil were shortchanged. They seek damages, restitution and a court order stopping the claim unless it's true. Neither Siete nor PepsiCo has been found liable of anything, and we found no public statement from either. These are allegations, not findings.

The Siete cases at a glance

There isn't one Siete lawsuit. We counted at least seven proposed class actions in five federal districts, filed between Aug 14 and Oct 5, 2026. Owed's case page tracks the Florida suit, Jung, but the claims are nearly identical across all of them. Siete, based in Austin, Texas, has been a PepsiCo subsidiary since Jan 17, 2025, which is why PepsiCo is named in some of the suits. Other brands face similar avocado-oil suits too; one tracker counted 27 federal cases against 11 brands as of Oct 12, 2026, including Kettle Brand, Boulder Canyon, Primal Kitchen and Chosen Foods.

Who is in the proposed classes

No court has certified a class, so nobody is officially in one. As filed, most complaints propose a nationwide class of people who bought the chips in the U.S. within the statute of limitations, plus state subclasses: California in Bayer, Florida in Jung and New York in Tsapelas. Brand covers only the potato chips, Lewis reaches other Siete products that claim to contain only avocado oil, and Golden also covers PepsiCo's Simply Tostitos avocado oil chips. Definitions can change, and a judge can narrow them.

If you bought either chip, keep receipts, loyalty-card history or online order emails. Our guide to checking whether you're part of a class action explains how classes get defined and notified.

Where the Siete cases stand

All of them are at the complaint stage. As of Oct 12, 2026, a lawsuit tracker reported that no court had ruled on a motion to dismiss in any of the avocado-oil cases and that none of the Siete cases had been consolidated or transferred. PepsiCo was reportedly given more time to respond in Golden. Expect the companies to ask judges to dismiss the cases, and expect the courts to decide whether to keep the Siete suits separate or coordinate them. We couldn't read the docket entries directly, so check the court dockets for anything newer.

Who could get paid, and how much

Nothing is available today: there is no settlement, claim form or deadline. If the cases settle, buyers of the named Siete chips are the people most likely to be included. Price-premium cases tend to pay modest per-bag amounts, because the alleged harm is the gap between what you paid and what a bag was worth. For perspective, see how much no-proof settlements actually pay and what counts as proof of purchase.

You don't need to do anything to be a possible class member, and nobody should ask you to pay to join. If a settlement comes, a court-appointed administrator would send a notice and claim form.

What could happen next, and how long it takes

The usual sequence: the companies respond, often with motions to dismiss or to coordinate the cases; if the claims survive, the sides exchange evidence and plaintiffs ask a judge to certify a class; then the cases settle, with a notice and claim process, or head toward trial. Consumer class actions commonly take one to three years from filing to payment, and many end with no payout. For the mechanics, see how a class action lawsuit works and what happens after a class is certified.

• Dismissal of some or all of the claims if a court finds the legal theories fall short.
• Coordination, where one judge handles several of the suits so they move together.
• A settlement, which would bring a claim form, a deadline and an administrator.

How to get notified if it settles

If a case settles, the administrator will post a claim form and deadline. Until then there is nothing to file. Keep your receipts, and watch Owed's Siete case page, which shows "Claims not open yet" and lets you ask to be notified when that changes. Our guide to getting notified of settlements covers other ways to stay on top of new cases.

Owed finds the settlements you qualify for, explains them in plain English, opens the official claim form, reminds you before deadlines and tracks each claim to payout. You would submit any claim yourself on the official form, and filing directly with an administrator is free. Owed Pro is $2 for the first week, then $49 per year — one flat membership. Owed never takes a percentage of any payout. Browse all open settlements in the meantime, or see what else you may be owed.

This post is general information, not legal advice. Owed is not a law firm or a settlement administrator, and neither Siete nor PepsiCo has been found liable for anything in these suits.

Glossary

Proposed class

The group a plaintiff asks a court to let her represent. Until a judge certifies it, nobody is officially a class member.

Nationwide class and subclass

A nationwide class includes buyers anywhere in the U.S.; a state subclass narrows it to buyers in one state, often to use that state's consumer-protection law.

Price premium

The extra amount buyers say they paid because of a claim that turned out to be misleading, compared with a similar product without it.

Unjust enrichment

A legal claim that someone kept money it shouldn't have and must give it back.

Class certification

A judge's decision letting a lawsuit proceed for a whole group instead of one plaintiff.

Codex Alimentarius

International food standards. The complaints use its compositional ranges as the benchmark for authentic avocado oil.

FAQ