Bang Beverages Do Not Contain “Super Creatine” Class Action

Creatine is an enormously popular ingredients in sports dietary supplements. It is supposed to improve performance, help with injuries, and allow athletes to undertake heavy training loads. It may also improve brain health. Vial Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which does business as VPX Sports, makes the Bang “performance-enhancing beverage” line of products, which purports to contain something called Super Creatine. But the complaint for this class action alleges that this substance is not creatine and cannot deliver the benefits of creatine.

The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons in the US who bought the Bang products during the fullest period allowed by law. A New York Subclass has also been proposed, for all persons in the above class in New York.

According to the complaint, in sports, “[c]reatine has been shown to improve exercise performance and play a role in preventing or reducing serious injuries, enhancing rehabilitation from injuries, and aids athletes in tolerating heavy training loads.” It may also help the brain, the complaint claims: “There is evidence in scientific literature that if creatine is able to successfully permeate the blood-brain barrier (BBB), it can promote brain health and improve cognitive function.”

VPX Sports makes a line of Bang “performance-enhancing beverage[s]” for which, the complaint claims, the “marquee ingredient is ‘Super Creatine[.]’” The words “Super Creatine,” the complaint says, are in capital letters and a bold font around the top lip of the Bank can and “Super Creatine” is noted as a “performance ingredient” on the packaging.

In reality, however, the complaint alleges that the drinks do not contain creatine. The complaint says that “what [VPX] calls ‘Super Creatine’ is really creatyl L-leucine, which is a fundamentally different molecule than creatine, is not creatine, and does not have the benefits of creatine. Creatyl L-leucine is an entirely new ingredient developed by VPX. It is also incapable of having any of the physiological effects of creatine.”

The complaint calls the name “Super Creatine” “false and misleading.”

Still, the company puts the designation “Potent Brain and Body Fuel” in capital letters front and center on the products. The complaint alleges it has even “defined this phrase as its ‘trademarked tagline’ and part of its ‘trade dress.’ In fact, [VPX] has stated that one of the reasons it labels the Product as providing ‘Potent Brain and Body Fuel’ is because of ‘Super Creatine.’”

Despite this, the complaint alleges that the products “contain no creatine at all.”

Also, the complaint alleges that “the Bang website references multiple ‘university studies.’ All of these studies were funded, at least in part, by VPX. Further, the VPX-sponsored ‘university studies’ do not provide any discernable scientific evidence that Creatyl L-leucine can provide any performance benefit in the body or in the brain.” In fact, the complaint claims that no peer-reviewed studies show positive effects from Creatyl L-leucine in the brain or in muscle.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, Does Not Contain Implied Ingredients