Minute Maid juice boxes are made by the Coca-Cola Company, which labels them, among other things, as “Good for You!” But the complaint for this class action claims that this labeling is misleads consumers, because fruit juice is not healthy and can increase the risk of all kinds of diseases, including heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.
The class for this action is all persons in the US who, at any time between February 6, 2019 and the notification of a class in this case, bought any of the juice boxes, for personal or household use and not for resale or distribution. California and New York Subclasses have also been proposed for members of the above class who are in California or New York, respectively.
The Minute Maid juice boxes come in various flavors, including Apple, Apple White Grape, Mixed Berry, Fruit Punch, and Lemonade, and possibly others. They normally come in packs of eight six-ounce boxes. According to the complaint, each “contains between 19g and 21g of free sugar, constituting 80% to nearly 100% of each Juice Box’s calories.”
Consumers these days prefer to buy healthier foods, the complaint alleges, so that “Coca-Cola has taken advantage of this by marketing the Juice Boxes as healthy options…” This includes images of whole fruits on the boxes along with statements saying that they are “Good for You!” and “Part of a Healthy, Balanced Diet.”
But the complaint alleges these statements “are false or at least highly misleading” because drinking juice regularly instead of eating whole fruit increases the risk of disease.
How does it do this? The complaint alleges that “processing intact fruit destroys the fruits’ natural food matrix thereby concentrating and releasing the fruit’s sugar” which gets absorbed very quickly into the body. The food matrix has to do with the physical structure of the fruit, which “has profound implications in food processing, oral processing, satiation and satiety, and digestion in the gastrointestinal tract.”
While eating whole fruit can “have a protective effect regarding diabetes[,]” the complaint claims, drinking juice can increase the risk of diabetes. According to the complaint, drinking fruit juice regularly increases the risk of other diseases and health problems as well, including cardiovascular heart disease, metabolic disease, liver disease, obesity, high blood triglycerides, abnormal cholesterol levels, and hypertension. It can also increase all-cause mortality.
Health authorities recommend limiting the amount of free sugars consumed. For example, the complaint quotes the World Health Organization as recommending, for “both adults and children, the intake of free sugars should be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake.”
The complaint alleges that Coca-Cola’s statements on the juice boxes are misleading and take advantage of consumers’ misconception that juices are as healthy a whole fruit.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Minute Maid Juice Boxes Falsely Marketed as Healthy Complaint
February 6, 2023
Minute Maid juice boxes are made by the Coca-Cola Company, which labels them, among other things, as “Good for You!” But the complaint for this class action claims that this labeling is misleads consumers, because fruit juice is not healthy and can increase the risk of all kinds of diseases, including heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.
Minute Maid Juice Boxes Falsely Marketed as Healthy ComplaintCase Event History
Minute Maid Juice Boxes Falsely Marketed as Healthy Complaint
February 6, 2023
Minute Maid juice boxes are made by the Coca-Cola Company, which labels them, among other things, as “Good for You!” But the complaint for this class action claims that this labeling is misleads consumers, because fruit juice is not healthy and can increase the risk of all kinds of diseases, including heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.
Minute Maid Juice Boxes Falsely Marketed as Healthy Complaint