WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - Coca-Cola and Simply Orange Juice Company say class action lawyers have failed to show the Simply Tropical juice drink they make contains chemicals known as PFAS.
The two filed their motion to dismiss Oct. 19 in New York federal court in what they called a "part of a growing trend of no-injury, no-deception class action suits" over trace amounts of PFAS, chemicals used in firefighting foam and consumer products found in the environment.
The lawsuit doesn't allege there is a high enough level of PFAS in the product to be harmful to consumers, the motion says. Plus, they never promised there would be no PFAS in it, the defendants say.
The motion says their argument is backed by two other PFAS decisions finding cosmetics were unsafe and "natural" claims by a popcorn-maker didn't mislead customers.
In the Simply Tropical case, plaintiff Joseph Lurenz says he was misled by claims the drink was "all natural." And by using "Simply" to name the drink, customers thought it was healthy.
"The product labeling states that it is 'made simply' with 'all-natural ingredients.' That is true," Coca-Cola says.
"Th product contains water, juices and puree, sugar and natural flavors. PFAS are not 'ingredients' intentionally added to the product, and, if some amount of PFAS is present, FDA regulations exempt such incidental substances from disclosure on the FDA-mandated ingredient list.
"Further, there is no requirement that all trace amounts of chemicals with speculative health effects must be disclosed on a label."
The motion finds fault with the lack of specifics on the testing cited by plaintiff lawyers and says a "reasonable consumer" would not be misled by any of the drink's claims.
PFAS are dubbed "forever chemicals" because they persist in groundwater and human tissue for years. The federal government is attempting to set a maximum contaminant level for PFAS, even as groups call the move premature. Much of the research regarding their effect on the human body is disputed.