Whole Foods Will Pay $4M to Settle Kombucha Labeling Class Action

Whole Foods has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit for $4 million, ending claims that the company sells Health-Ade kombucha which is mislabeled as non-alcoholic when it really contains alcohol from the fermentation process.

Whole Foods Market Inc. and Health-Ade LLC will provide a refund to customers who bought the kombucha in the amount of $4 per bottle purchased.

Customers who have proof of purchase will be able to receive up to $80, and customers without proof of purchase will be able to receive up to $40.

The lead plaintiffs will also receive $2,000 each for their assistance in the kombucha class action lawsuit.

Whole Foods, Health-Ade, and customers are now seeking preliminary approval for their proposed settlement deal in California federal court.

As part of the class action settlement deal, Health-Ade has also agreed to change the labeling on its kombucha to include a warning that the beverages contain trace amounts of alcohol.

The warning will reportedly be geared towards pregnant and breastfeeding customers, and will recommend that such customers should talk to their doctor before drinking the kombucha.

Health-Ade has also agreed to tweak its recipe to control the amount of alcohol that may be produced during the fermentation process.

The company further agrees to test the product during the production process to control for the amounts of alcohol and sugar present in the beverage. This will reportedly help ensure that the alcohol levels do not exceed the amount of alcohol allowed in a product to let it be considered non-alcoholic under federal and state laws.

According to the motion requesting approval of the settlement deal, “this is an excellent result for Class Members, even that the settlement effectively provides a full refund to Class Members that submit claims.”

The Whole Foods kombucha class action lawsuit was filed by Gariela Bayol and Bruce Verbeck, who amended their complaint in May 2018. They argued that Whole Foods and Health-Ade inaccurately represented their kombucha as non-alcoholic, when in reality, the product contained more than the 0.5 percent alcohol by volume content allowed by federal law for a product to be labeled as non-alcoholic.

Allegedly, this could harm consumers who seek out the beverage because it is labeled as non-alcoholic or who would be harmed by alcohol consumption. The consumers claim that the product was being sold to children, pregnant customers, those who suffer from alcohol dependence issues, or those who do not consume alcohol for other health issues.

The Whole Foods class action lawsuit states that “to make matters worth, Health-Ade promotes its kombucha beverages as an alternative to alcohol, such that many consumers specifically wishing to avoid alcohol are tricked into buying Health-Ade kombucha.”

According to the Whole Foods kombucha alcohol content class action lawsuit, there is more sugar in the kombucha than Health-Ade advertises, which is part of the reason why the fermentation process produces so much alcohol.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The customers are represented by L. Timothy Fisher, Joel D. Smith, Yeremey Krivoshey and Scott A. Bursor of Bursor & Fisher PC.

The Whole Foods Kombucha Alcohol Content Class Action Lawsuit is Gabriela Bayol, et al. v. Health-Ade LLC, et al., Case No. 3:18-cv-01462, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: June 2019, the Whole Foods, Health-Ade Kombucha class action settlement is now open.Click here to file a claim.

UPDATE 2: On Feb. 3, 2020, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail worth $24.92 from the Whole Foods kombucha class action settlement. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!