Mio Peach Mango Liquid Drink Concentrate Artificial Flavoring Class Action

Kraft Heinz Foods Company makes a Mio peach mango liquid drink flavoring concentrate. The complaint alleges that the concentrate purports to be made with natural flavors but contains artificial flavors without properly noting that on the container.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The New York Class is all persons in New York who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
• The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in Virginia and Oklahoma who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.

Page 1 of the complaint shows the Mio bottle containing the concentrate. Page 2 shows a close-up of part of the front label, reading, “Peach Mango” and “Natural Flavor with Other Natural Flavor” on an orange background that suggests the colors of peaches and mangoes.

The complaint alleges that more than seven out of ten consumers avoid artificial flavorings and believe they are associated with detrimental health effects. It also says, “According to Forbes, 88% of consumers consider foods without artificial flavors to be more natural and/or health[ier] than foods with artificial flavors, and they would pay more for such foods.”

Under both state and federal regulations, foods must disclose how they are flavored on their front labels.

Because the front label of the product claims to get its flavors from “Natural Flavor with Other Natural Flavor,” the complaint alleges, “consumers expect only natural flavors.”

However, on page 3, the complaint reproduces the ingredient label for the product. While it does list “Natural Flavor” as its fourth ingredient, it also lists Malic Acid” as its second ingredient.

According to the complaint, there are two isomers of malic acid. L-malic acid is a natural ingredient found in fruit that provides a tart flavor. D-malic acid is not a natural substance. Because there are two different types of malic acid, the complaint says, the company is required to tell consumers whether it used the artificial one or the natural one.

The complaint alleges that “DL-malic acid is the racemic mix of D isomer and L isomer” and that it “is a synthetic chemical manufactured from petroleum.” The complaint asserts, “Laboratory analysis concluded the Product contains dl-malic acid.”

According to the complaint, the company could have flavored the product with L-malic acid, or it could have used more peach or mango flavor. “However,” the complaint speculates, the company “used artificial dl-malic acid because it was lower-priced and/or more accurately resembled natural peach and natural mango flavor.”

The company therefore should have put the words “Artificially Flavored” or “Artificial Flavor” on the product’s front and other labels, the complaint contends. The label must disclose the artificial flavoring, the complaint says, because “the Product contains added flavoring ingredients that simulate and reinforce the characterizing peach and mango flavor[s]…”

The presence of the artificial flavor, the complaint claims, means that “[t]he value of the Product … was materially less than its value as represented…”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: All Natural Claims, Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels