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cane juice in OdwallaA nationwide consumer class action lawsuit accusing Coca-Cola subsidiary Odwalla of misleading consumers and misbranding its products by using the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ on product labels has been revived after a two-year pause.

U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers lifted the stay in June following the FDA’s recent administrative guidance issued on May 25, 2016 concerning the use of the controversial term.

Odwalla is a leading consumer packaged food and beverage company that manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells branded beverages and food bars throughout the United States. Coca-Cola is the parent company of Odwalla.

Evaporated cane juice is an ingredient that is commonly described as a sweetener derived from the fluid extract of sugar cane. Product manufacturers, like Odwalla, often claim that evaporated cane juice is processed differently than sugar and therefore is not in the same class as sugar.

Plaintiff Robin Reese initially filed the proposed class action lawsuit in 2014 against Odwalla, alleging the use of the term “evaporated cane juice” instead of sugar fooled her into thinking she was getting a healthier product when she purchased Odwalla juice.

Reese alleges Odwalla violated California’s Sherman Law and the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FDCA) when the company falsely listed certain snacks and beverages as containing no sugar.

Odwalla asked the court to dismiss the case, stating that use of the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ on its super-premium juice brand products was a matter for the FDA to decide.

“California law is unique insofar as it purports to allow private plaintiffs to sue to enforce FDCA requirements under state law. While some states have enacted ‘mini-FDCA’ statutes of their own, legislators in those states have made a deliberate policy choice not to permit private enforcement or remedies,” Odwalla argued.

Judge Rogers denied Odwalla’s dismissal bid and instead chose to postpone the evaporated cane juice class action lawsuit until the FDA made a final determination on the lawfulness of using the term evaporated cane juice, stating that “any final pronouncement by the FDA in connection with that process almost certainly would have an effect on the issues in litigation here.”

On May 25, nearly two years after Judge Rogers stayed the class action lawsuit, the FDA released its final guidance regarding use of the controversial term “evaporated cane juice,” having deemed it to be “false or misleading.”

The federal agency recommended that food and beverage companies that list evaporated cane juice as an ingredient instead use “sugar” and optionally accompany it with “a truthful, non-misleading descriptor to distinguish the ingredient from other cane-based sweeteners.”

This administrative guidance comes seven years after the FDA published initial labeling guidance regarding evaporated cane juice. At the time, the federal agency says that the term is “not the common or usual name of any type of sweetener, including dried cane syrup,”

However, in May the FDA wrote that “Evaporated cane juice is false or misleading because it suggests that the sweetener is fruit or vegetable juice or is made from fruit or vegetable juice, and does not reveal that the ingredient’s basic nature and characterizing properties are those of a sugar.”

In her ruling to allow the case to proceed, Judge Rogers ordered Odwalla to file a new dismissal request within 14-days.

Reese seeks to represent a nationwide class of consumers who purchased Odwalla products that listed evaporated cane juice as an ingredient under the belief that the products were sugar-free. She is requesting damages in excess of $5 million on behalf of the nationwide Class of consumers.

Reese is represented by Ben F. Pierce Gore of Pratt & Associates and Keith M. Fleischman and Bradley F. Silverman of the Fleischman Law Firm.

The Odwalla Evaporated Cane Juice Class Action Lawsuit is Reese v. Odwalla Inc. et al., Case No. 4:13-cv-00947, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Aug. 10, 2016, Odwalla and the Coca-Cola Company asked a judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing them of misleading consumers by listing “evaporated cane juice” as an ingredient instead of sugar.

UPDATE 2: On Sept. 16, 2016, Reese responded to the company’s motion for dismissal, reiterating her argument that the company shouldn’t use the term “evaporated cane juice” to describe what should be properly called “sugar.”

UPDATE 3: On Feb. 13, 2017, this Odwalla class action lawsuit will continue, following a federal judge’s denial of the company’s motion to dismiss.

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4 thoughts onOdwalla Cane Juice Class Action Lawsuit Stay Lifted After FDA Decision

  1. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE 3: On Feb. 13, 2017, this Odwalla class action lawsuit will continue, following a federal judge’s denial of the company’s motion to dismiss.

  2. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE 2: On Sept. 16, 2016, Reese responded to the company’s motion for dismissal, reiterating her argument that the company shouldn’t use the term “evaporated cane juice” to describe what should be properly called “sugar.”

  3. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE: On Aug. 10, 2016, Odwalla and the Coca-Cola Company asked a judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing them of misleading consumers by listing “evaporated cane juice” as an ingredient instead of sugar.

  4. Chris says:

    Well, this is upsetting. We have spent a ton of money on Odwalla Juices at Fred Meyer’s. We are vegetarian so we do read and are influenced by the ingredients listed on food products.

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