SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – The maker of V8 juices facing a class action lawsuit over their sugar content says a second attempt by plaintiff lawyers fares no better than the first.
Attorneys for Campbell Soup Company on July 26 filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Paul Joseph of Fitzgerald Joseph that alleges there is too much sugar in fruit and vegetable blends sold in the V8 line for them to be considered healthy.
The drinks are marketed to “boost your morning nutrition” while containing “healthy greens,” the suit says, but sugar leaves drinkers susceptible to diabetes and liver disease, among other health problems.
It’s the second motion to dismiss filed by the company. At a May 26 hearing, plaintiffs counsel alleged Campbell misled customers into thinking its juices contained the same nutrition as whole fruits. Judge James Donato tossed the case, finding consumer protection laws do not bar Campbell from truthfully describing their nutrition.
A subsequent amended complaint now says reasonable consumers are misled into believing the blends are the nutritional equivalent of raw fruits and vegetables, Campbell complains.
“Plaintiffs’ theory depends on the nonsensical inference that a ‘reasonable consumer’ does not understand the difference between raw, whole plants, and the juices that come from them – a position that is facially implausible,” the motion says.
“The FAC’s related assertion that consumers will believe that two distinct foods are ‘nutritionally equivalent’ is a theory that a panel of the Ninth Circuit has unmistakably rejected…”
Campbell calls the new complaint a “rerun” of already rejected arguments.
The amount of vitamins in the blends is significant enough for them to be considered “healthy,” per FDA regulations, the motion says.