AriZona Green Tea Doesn’t Contain Ginseng, Class Action Says

A recent class action lawsuit claims that AriZona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey doesn’t actually contain ginseng despite its marketing.

Ginseng has been traditionally used in Chinese medicine and is believed to help with energy levels.

With the rise in holistic medicine and herbal remedies, the price and demand of ginseng has reportedly increased exponentially.

Plaintiffs Kalesha Niles and Jason Lahey claim that the price of ginseng is now more than $1,000 per pound and that some species of the root have been pushed to extinction due to the high demand.

According to the AriZona tea class action, the increased price of ginseng prompted AriZona to “use a miniscule, scientifically undetectable amount of ginseng in the product (or to entirely omit ginseng from the product), to increase [its] revenues.”

In their class action lawsuit against AriZona, Niles and Lahey claim that two laboratories tested AriZona green tea but did not detect ginseng.

The testing reportedly looked for ginsenosides, the chemical compound found in ginseng root, in order to determine if the beverages contained ginseng.

Although other competing brands allegedly contained ginseng, AriZona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey was reportedly found to contain no ginsenosides – indicating no ginseng.

Despite the alleged lack of ginseng in their beverages, AriZona allegedly labels their products as if they contain the herbal root.

AriZona Green tea packaging reportedly states that the beverages have “ginseng for energy” and emphasizes this with the product title “Green Tea with GINSENG and HONEY.”

However, these representations that AriZona contains “just the right amount of ginseng” are allegedly false, according to the AriZona tea class action.

Plaintiffs claim that consumers are deceived by AriZona’s representations regarding ginseng. AriZona’s claims were allegedly “false,” “misleading,” and intended to drive consumer sales by appealing to the demand for ginseng in products.

“The representation that the Product contains ‘Ginseng for energy’ was uniformly communicated to Plaintiffs and every other person who purchased the gallon jug and 23-ounce can of the Product during the proposed class period,” the AriZona labeling class action lawsuit claims.

Consumers were allegedly willing to pay more for the AriZona green tea products because of the labeling regarding ginseng content, but ended up paying for a product that wasn’t worth their money.

Niles and Lahey claim that this constitutes financial injury and that this damage was directly caused by misrepresentations on AriZona green tea labeling.

The plaintiffs seek to represent a Class of consumers who purchased a gallon jug or 23 ounce can of AriZona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey since April 1, 2015 in all states other than California.

Niles also seeks to represent a subclass of the same consumers from New York, while Lahey seeks to represent a subclass of the same consumers from Florida.

Plaintiffs and the proposed Class are represented by Stephen M. Raab of Gutride Safier LLP.

The AriZona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey Labeling Class Action Lawsuit is Niles, et al. v. Beverage Marketing USA Inc., et al., Case No. 2:19­-cv­-01902, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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