These days, consumers are favoring drinks that contain less sugar over very sweet drinks. The complaint for this class action alleges that the Coca-Cola Company, the makers of Gold Peak brand teas, present their teas as being less sweet, when in reality, the teas contain far more sugar than customers suspect.
The class for this action is all purchasers of Gold Brand teas in New York and the other forty-nine states, during the statutes of limitations.
The complaint reproduces an image of a Gold Peak tea bottle, showing the words, “Slightly Sweet,” “Sweetened with 50% less sugar than our sweet tea,” and “90 Calories per Bottle.” The complaint says, “The representations are misleading because though being represented as low in sugar, they actually contain objectively high amounts of sugar, as added sugar.”
Consumers these days understand that sugar is unhealthy, may promote diseases like diabetes, and causes people to gain weight. They associate less sugar with weight loss. However, federal law and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations limit the claims that can be made for foods. The complaint says, “Representations that characterize the level of a nutrient”—such as sugar—“are specifically limited and can be made only in accordance with an authorizing regulation.”
According to the complaint, “The FDA has authorized claims for the absence of sugar and calories (‘no sugar,’ ‘calorie free’) and relative amount of calories and sugar (‘fewer calories,’ ‘less sugar’), but not ‘low sugar.’”
“Low sugar” claims are therefore prohibited. The FDA has issued warning letters to companies whose products make low-sugar claims.
The complaint alleges that when consumers see a representation like “Slightly Sweet,” they think the product is low in sugar or in added sugar. However, the Gold Peak tea’s nutrition label shows that the tea contains twenty-four grams of sugar—not a small amount, and 47% of the Daily Value. A careful consumer who didn’t want to consumer more than the Daily Value of sugar could therefore only consumer twenty-six more grams of sugar in the entire day, something that the complaint says is not easy to do, given the amount of sugar present in many processed foods.
The complaint concludes that the representations on the front of the bottle violate laws and are designed to mislead consumers about the amount of sugar in the tea.
The complaint’s counts include negligent representation, breaches of warranty, and violations of New York’s General Business Law, among other things.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Gold Peak Tea Sugar and Sweetness Labeling Complaint
February 8, 2020
These days, consumers are favoring drinks that contain less sugar over very sweet drinks. The complaint for this class action alleges that the Coca-Cola Company, the makers of Gold Peak brand teas, present their teas as being less sweet, when in reality, the teas contain far more sugar than customers suspect.
gold_peak_tea_sugar_content_complaint.pdfCase Event History
Gold Peak Tea Sugar and Sweetness Labeling Complaint
February 8, 2020
These days, consumers are favoring drinks that contain less sugar over very sweet drinks. The complaint for this class action alleges that the Coca-Cola Company, the makers of Gold Peak brand teas, present their teas as being less sweet, when in reality, the teas contain far more sugar than customers suspect.
gold_peak_tea_sugar_content_complaint.pdf