Nectar Petit Nectar Drinks “No Preservatives” Claim Class Action

Kasim International Corporation makes Nectar Petit nectar drinks in various flavors that are marketed as having “No Preservatives.” But the complaint for this class action alleges that this claim is false, as the drinks contain citric acid and ascorbic acid, which are, and should be identified as, preservatives.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

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

Consumers nowadays prefer foods that are as “natural” as possible, with few or no additives of any kind. The complaint alleges, “Market research firm Mintel has shown that 84 percent of Americans buy foods with ‘free from’ claims, because they are seeking foods that are more natural and less processed.” A large number of Americans believe that foods that are “free from” various additives are healthier and safer for them.

The complaint claims, “Representing a product [as] not having preservatives is valued by over seventy percent of consumers.”

The complaint shows an image of the one of the nectar drinks on its first page. Beside it is an enlargement of a seal that appears at the bottom of the can with the words “No Preservatives.”

Among the ingredients listed on the ingredient panel are “Citric Acid (as Acidulant” and “Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid).”

Federal food rules mandate that foods that contain preservatives reveal that fact. Also, the complaint alleges, “a preservative must be designated in the ingredient list by its common or usual name and a separate determination of that ingredients as a preservative, i.e., ‘BHA (a preservative).’”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identifies certain substances as food preservatives. The complaint alleges, “In the FDA’s Overview of Food Ingredients, Additives, and Colors, ‘Ascorbic acid, [and] citric acid” are identified as the ‘Names Found on Product Labels’ consumers should look for to determine if a food contains preservatives.”

The complaint calls ascorbic acid “a chemically modified form of vitamin C, used in foods as a preservative.”

It quotes from a warning the FDA gave a maker of pineapple and coconut products: “The ‘Pineapple Bites’ and ‘Pineapple Bites with Coconut’ products are further misbranded … in that they contain the chemical preservative[s] ascorbic acid and citric acid but their labels fail to declare these preservatives with a description of their functions.”

According to the complaint, then, nectar drinks’ “labeling is misleading because the statement of ‘No Preservatives’ is false, based on the presence of ascorbic acid and citric acid.” Also, the complaint alleges, the citric acid is identified as an acidulant and not as a preservative; and the ascorbic acid is listed in parentheses, in a way that makes people pay more attention to its “vitamin C” designation.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Contains Substance It Claims Not to Contain, Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, No Preservatives Claims