ALBANY, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) — Abbott is facing a lawsuit alleging it falsely represents Ensure Nutrition Drinks are healthy despite their high added sugar content.
Larissa Bates, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated and the general public, filed a complaint March 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York against Abbott Laboratories alleging unfair and deceptive business practices and other claims.
Bates alleges in her class action that Abbott's Ensure Nutrition Drinks are falsely and misleadingly labeled with general health and wellness representations. Specifically, Bates claims Ensure drink labels state "complete, balanced nutrition for everyday health" when Abbott adds up to 22 grams of sugar per serving to Ensure, making the drink harmful to consumers' health.
She further claims that Abbott "touts" Ensure as a "nutrition shake" despite the product's high added sugar content and deceptively conveys to consumers that the drinks provide the promised health benefits. Bates claims Abbott omits information regarding the health harm of the product's added sugar content such as increased risk of cardiovascular heart disease and mortality. She also alleges Abbott's representation that Ensure will help maintain a healthy weight is false and misleading due to the drink's high sugar content.
Bates seeks monetary relief, interest, trial by jury and all other just relief. They are represented by Jack Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Joseph LLP in San Diego.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York case number 1:23-CV-00387-TJM-CFH