Halfday Tonics Lawsuit Says Prebiotic Iced Teas Contain More Sugar Than Advertised

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action lawsuit claims that Halfday Tonics prebiotic iced teas are misleadingly advertised as low-sugar given that the beverages contain more than three times the amount of sugar disclosed on product labels.

Get class action lawsuit and class action settlement news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 44-page lawsuit contends that although Halfday Tonics touts its ready-to-drink prebiotic iced teas as a “better-for-you,” low-sugar and low-calorie alternative to traditional sugary sodas and sweetened teas, with the claim that each can contains only three grams, three to five grams, or a similarly low amount of sugar, the beverages in reality contain far more sugar per can than consumers are led to expect.

The Halfday Tonics beverages at issue in the false advertising lawsuit include Raspberry Iced Tea, Peach Iced Tea, Green Iced Tea, Lemon Iced Tea, Tropical Iced Tea, Sweet Iced Tea, Classic Half & Half Iced Tea & Lemonade, Watermelon Half & Half Iced Tea and Watermelon Lemonade.

According to the suit, Halfday claims to provide drinks that don’t contain the same “sugar burden” of other sweetened beverages, a representation that is repeated as a “central promise” across the defendant’s website, packaging, and in promotional materials. The filing highlights Halfday Tonics Raspberry Iced Tea, which bears a bright green front-label callout that says “3g sugar,” a claim that is reiterated in the tea’s nutrition facts panel, which states “Total Sugars 3g.”

However, the lawsuit states that independent testing reportedly revealed that the Raspberry Iced Tea contained approximately 9.69 grams of sugar per 355 mL can, over three times the amount represented to consumers. Per the complaint, the discrepancy between the advertised amount of sugar and the actual sugar content of the drinks is more than a minor rounding issue and cannot be explained away by variations in manufacturing.

Importantly, the case says that the nutrition facts panel is “not mere marketing copy” but rather a federally mandated, standardized disclosure, and consumers reasonably understand that the statements thereon are not “advertising puffery” but rather objective nutritional facts, an understanding that Halfday Tonics allegedly “exploited.”

“[Halfday Tonics] placed its low-sugar representations inside the very disclosure system consumers rely on to avoid being misled,” the lawsuit says. “This made the representations more credible, more material, and more likely to deceive reasonable consumers seeking healthier alternatives to traditional sugary sodas and sweetened beverages.”

As the case tells it, Halfday had numerous opportunities to discover the true sugar content of its drinks through the formulation process, including when the company selected the sweeteners and prebiotic blends to be used, determined can sizes, created the nutrition facts panels, and prominently placed low-sugar representations in marketing materials.

Many consumers seek out foods that are low in sugar, carbohydrates and calories to control health conditions such as diabetes, prediabetes and insulin resistance, and accurate information about a given food’s sugar content and carbohydrates is critical to managing those conditions, the lawsuit mentions. To make matters worse, inaccurate nutrition facts panels undermine consumer trust in nutrition labels, the complaint says.

The Halfday Tonics class action lawsuit looks to cover all individuals in the United States who purchased any Halfday prebiotic iced tea beverage represented as containing three grams, three to five grams, or similarly low amounts of sugar per can, including the varieties listed on this page, within the last four years before the filing of the complaint through the date of class certification.

Check out ClassAction.org’s lawsuit list for the latest open class actions.