CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) – Tropicana Manufacturing Co. Inc. deceives consumers by failing to disclose artificial flavors in its juice drinks, a federal class-action lawsuit alleges.
State and federal law requires that companies disclose artificial flavors on the product labels, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Feb. 28.
“The ‘malic acid’ that defendant adds to this product is an artificial flavoring agent,” the suit says. This type of malic acid is “not naturally occurring but is manufactured in petrochemical plants from benzene or butane – components of gasoline and lighter fluid, respectively – through a series of chemical reactions, some of which involve highly toxic chemical precursors and byproducts."
Plaintiffs cite 10 Tropicana drinks including Trop 50 “Farmstand Apple” and “100% Juice” apple drink. Customers paid more for the product than they would have if the juices had been labelled properly, the complaint said.
The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages and an order stopping Tropicana from engaging in the alleged “deceptive and unfair practices.”
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois case number 1:20-cv-01501