A New York federal court has trimmed claims in a lawsuit alleging that Arizona Beverages Co. and its parent company Hornell Brewing Co. Inc. misled consumers by labeling Arizona Fruit Snacks as "all natural" despite containing synthetic ingredients, including ascorbic acid, glucose syrup, citric acid, gelatin and dextrose. Silva v. Hornell Brewing Co. Inc., No. 20-0756 (E.D.N.Y., entered August 10, 2020). The court declined to dismiss the case on the basis that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) holds primary jurisdiction over the issue. "First, while defining the term 'all natural' does involve technical and policy considerations, this case does not require a technical definition of 'all natural,'" the court held. "Instead, this case requires a determination of whether labeling the Product as 'all natural' is misleading to a reasonable consumer. That type of legal question is within the conventional experience of the court and does not require FDA…
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A lawsuit challenging the ingredients in LaCroix sparkling water has been dismissed with prejudice by the plaintiffs. Rice v. Nat'l Beverage Corp., No. 18-7151 (N.D. Ill., E. Div., entered February 18, 2020). National Beverage Corp. reportedly shared a letter with the media about the voluntary dismissal, stating that a laboratory cited in the complaint confirmed that it had not, as alleged, determined that the ingredients in LaCroix were not natural. "That laboratory has since confirmed in writing and separately under oath that its testing could not, and did not, determine whether the ingredients were 'synthetic' and made no finding as to the source of the ingredients it identified." The letter reportedly also asserts that the plaintiff was provided results from a different laboratory, "which confirmed that LaCroix's flavor ingredients are 100% natural and free of any 'synthetic' sources."
Hornell Brewing Co. Inc. and its subsidiary Arizona Beverage Co. allegedly misrepresent their fruit snacks product as all natural despite containing citric acid, gelatin, ascorbic acid, dextrose, glucose syrup and modified food starch, a consumer alleges. Silva v. Hornell Brewing Co. Inc., No. 20-0756 (E.D.N.Y., filed February 11, 2020). The plaintiff argues that these ingredients are synthetic and cites a 2013 U.S. Department of Agriculture draft guidance decision delineating what materials are natural or synthetic. "Congress has defined 'synthetic' to mean 'a substance that is formulated or manufactured by a chemical process or by a process that chemically changes a substance extracted from naturally occurring plants, animals, or mineral sources," the complaint argues. Further, "[s]urveys and other market research, including expert testimony Plaintiff intends to introduce, will demonstrate that the term 'natural' is misleading to a reasonable consumer because the reasonable consumer believes that the term “natural,” when used to…
