Ex-PepsiCo exec who claimed he invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos loses defamation lawsuit against snack giant

PepsiCo won the dismissal of a lawsuit by a former executive who said the food and beverage company defrauded and defamed him by denying that he invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.In a decision on Wednesday, US District Judge John Holcomb said Richard Montanez, who retired from PepsiCo in 2019 to become a full-time motivational speaker, did not show that PepsiCo and its Frito-Lay unit intentionally reneged on a promise to tell the “true story” of how he created the popular spicy chips.The Santa Ana, Calif.-based ...