Ricola Class Action Lawsuit Says Throat Drops Aren’t All Natural

According to a Ricola class action lawsuit, the soothing throat drops do not contain natural ingredients as is advertised by product representations.

Ricola throat drops are reportedly advertised as “naturally soothing” or otherwise “natural.”

The Ricola class action lawsuit states that when consumers see representations that food products are “natural,” they believe the products do not contain artificial or synthetic ingredients.

However, in her recent Ricola class action, plaintiff Amy Comfort claims that Ricola’s representations do not live up to consumer expectations because the throat drops are not completely natural.

“Unfortunately for consumers, the ‘Naturally Soothing’ claim is false, misleading and likely to deceive reasonable consumers in the same respect, due to their unnaturalness for containing various unnatural, synthetic, artificial, and/or genetically modified ingredients,” the Ricola class action lawsuit claims.

Several flavors of Ricola throat drops allegedly contain artificial ingredients, including: Cherry Honey (contains malic acid); Green Tea with Echinacea Sugar Free (contains aspartame, citric acid, and sorbitol); Honey Lemon with Echinacea (contains ascorbic acid); Lemon Mint (contains citric acid); Lemon Mint Sugar Free (contains ascorbic acid, aspartame, and citric acid); Mixed Berry with Vitamin C (contains sodium ascorbate and citric acid); Original Swiss Herb Sugar Free (contains aspartame and sorbitol); Swiss Cherry Sugar Free (contains aspartame, citric acid, and isomalt); and more.

Malic acid and citric acid are artificial flavorings. Aspartame, sorbitol, and isomalt are artificial sweeteners. Ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate are forms of Vitamin C. Comfort claims that all of these ingredients are “unnatural, synthetic, artificial, and/or genetically modified,” thus invalidating Ricola’s claims that their throat drops are natural.

Comfort also states that Ricola knowingly deceived their consumers into believing that the throat drops were made from natural ingredients in order to increase the products’ marketability and desirability.

“Defendant labels the Products as ‘Naturally Soothing’ because consumers perceive Naturally Soothing foods as the equivalent as organic foods and being healthier, better, and more wholesome,” Comfort argues in her Ricola class action lawsuit. “The market for Naturally Soothing foods has grown rapidly in the past few years, a trend Defendant seeks to take advantage of through false and misleading advertising.”

Due to this alleged deception, Comfort argues that she and other consumers were injured because they paid for a product which was falsely represented, paid a premium price for a product which was not actually natural, and received less value than what the paid for.

Comfort seeks to represent a Class of consumers who purchased Ricola throat drops within four years of the filing of the Ricola class action lawsuit. She also seeks to represent a Class of the same consumers from New York who are protected under additional state laws.

The Ricola throat drops class action lawsuit seeks declaratory relief, injunctive relief, restitution, disgorgement, statutory damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Comfort and the proposed Class are represented by Michael R. Reese and George V. Granade of Reese LLP; Jason P. Sulzter of The Sulzter Law Group; and Joshua H. Eggnatz of Eggnatz Pascucci PA.

The Ricola Throat Drops Class Action Lawsuit is Comfort v. Ricola USA Inc., Case No. 1:19-cv-00157, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.