Minute Maid Lawsuit Claims Fruit Punch with ‘100% Natural Flavors’ Is Falsely Advertised

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges The Coca-Cola Company has misrepresented that its Minute Maid Fruit Punch contains “100% Natural Flavors” given that the product includes a synthetic flavoring ingredient.

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The 26-page lawsuit alleges that although Coca-Cola deployed the label claim that its Minute Maid Fruit Punch contains “100% Natural Flavors,” the fruit punch contains industrially manufactured, synthetic citric acid, which provides tartness to the drink’s flavor.

While citric acid is found naturally in a variety of fruits and vegetables and imparts a tart, sour flavor, the citric acid found in Minute Maid Fruit Punch is not derived naturally from citrus fruits as the average consumer may assume, the suit relays. Instead, the “overwhelming majority” of commercially available citric acid is produced by fermenting the “mutant” black mold strain Aspergillus niger, with the citric acid chemically extracted and refined with industrial solvents, the filing says.

Further, while the ingredients list for Minute Maid Fruit Punch states that the beverage contains “citric acid (provides tartness),” product labels do not include a disclosure that the citric acid is artificial, synthetic, and industrially produced, the complaint continues. Given the industrial scale of Coca-Cola’s operations, the company “does not and cannot” source the citric acid in its beverages from naturally extracted citrus, the case contends.

The suit claims that Coca-Cola is aware that consumers are willing to pay more for food and beverages made with “natural flavors” due to an increased preference for healthy products and the widespread perception that “natural” foods are healthier than those with artificial or synthetic ingredients.

Coca-Cola deliberately emphasizes that the fruit punch is natural to capitalize on consumer preferences for “clean label” products and to induce buyers to pay a price premium, the lawsuit argues.

Related Reading: Coca-Cola Lawsuit Claims Sprite, Fanta Falsely Advertised as Made with ‘100% Natural Flavors’

The lawsuit mentions that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warning letters to food manufacturers for using terms such as “natural” or “all natural” on products that contain manufactured citric acid.

If the synthetic citric acid in the Minute Maid Fruit Punch was used as a preservative, Coca-Cola would have been legally obligated to disclose its function as such, the case conveys.

“The citric acid in [Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid Fruit Punch] is used to impart flavor and is synthetic, rendering the front-of-package statement ‘100% Natural Flavors’ false, misleading, and deceptive,” the filing claims.

The complaint says consumers would not have purchased the Minute Maid Fruit Punch, or would have paid less for it, had they known that it contained synthetic, artificial citric acid as a flavoring ingredient.

The Minute Maid Fruit Punch class action lawsuit looks to cover all individuals in Florida, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Washington who, during the maximum period of time permitted by law, purchased Minute Maid Fruit Punch bearing the challenged “100% Natural Flavors” labeling for personal, family, or household use and not for resale.

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