NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – A class action lawsuit over an ingredient in Fanta fails for one key reason, Coca-Cola is claiming.
The artificial malic acid that lawyers say conflicts with Fanta’s claims it has 100% natural flavors doesn’t act as a flavor, the company argued in a June 17 motion to dismiss a case filed by plaintiff Janie Hawkins and her lawyer Spencer Sheehan.
The complaint says Fanta products claim to be 100% natural but aren’t because of the presence of malic acid.
“Hawkins’ (first amended complaint) offers nothing but speculation that malic acid functions as a flavor in Fanta,” the motion says.
“Instead, her allegations support the opposite conclusion. She admits, for example, that malic acid may function as a ‘pH balancer’ or a ‘flavor enhancer’ in beverages – neither of which would qualify as a ‘flavor under’ FDA rules.”
Coca-Cola says Hawkins needs to prove malic acid acts as a flavor to have a case under New York law. It is represented by Steven Zalesin, Jane Metcalf and Dakotah Burns of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler.