Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
The makers of Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea face a class action lawsuit alleging the drink is deceptively sold and marketed.
New York City resident James Prater, the named plaintiff in the complaint, argues that the label on a can of an Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea fraudulently deceives buyers into believing the drink is low in calories.
He further claims the company violates state consumers laws with the practice and is unjustly enriched from the sales of their line of Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea beverages.
The complaint’s main argument centers on standards set by the Food and Drug Administration in regards to a food product’s nutrient content. Prater says Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea’s labeling fails these standards.
“The FDA established [regulations on] nutrient content claims to prevent consumers being deceived by a product when the terms used to describe the food are not consistent with the message they convey,” Prater said in the complaint.
The class action lawsuit takes issue with the term “lite” and how it’s used in describing the drink, arguing shoppers have faith products marketed this way are lower in calories.
He further claims Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea drinks are required by the FDA to compare the “light” or “lite” claims with a similar product on labeling.
“However, the Product has so many calories and grams of sugar per serving size that it would be difficult to fathom a reference food,” he says, alleging that a 12-ounce can of Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea has 10 calories less than a similar sized container of Coca Cola.
By these standards, Arnold Palmer Iced Tea would be required by the FDA to be at least a third less in calories than other similar drinks.
The FDA’s guidelines on daily sugar consumption advise someone with a 2,000 calorie a day diet eat about 50 grams of sugar a day. A 12-ounce can of Arnold Palmer Iced Tea contains about 19 grams of sugar.
Prater contends the “lite” label is fraudulent because there isn’t another similar beverage Arnold Palmer Iced Tea can be compared to because the drink has such high calorie content.
“Branding and packaging of the Product is designed to – and does – deceive, mislead, and defraud plaintiffs and consumers,” Prater says, adding he paid premium prices for Arnold Palmer Iced Tea because of these beliefs.
This is not the first time Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea faced challenges in court. A Michigan man filed a similar class action lawsuit against the AriZona beverage company Tea in September, with claims that its zero calorie line of drinks actually contain 15 calories.
The FDA is working on educating consumers on interpreting nutrition labels with an initiative launched two years ago.
“Consuming too much added sugars can make it difficult to meet nutrient needs while staying within calorie limits,” according to the FDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Prater is seeking a Class made up of buyers of Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea in New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Formally, the class action lawsuit accuses AriZona beverage company of violating consumer protection laws in New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania; violating New York General Business Law and the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. The Class is seeking monetary damages.
Have you purchased Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea thinking that it was lower in calories or sugars? Let us know in the comments below.
Counsel representing the plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit is Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.
The Arnold Palmer Lite Iced Tea Class Action Lawsuit is Prater v. Arizona Beverages USA LLC, Case No. 1:20-cv-09108, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
1,533 thoughts onArnold Palmer ‘Lite’ Iced Tea Is Mislabeled, Class Action Lawsuit Says
All the people saying “add me” are sad and pathetic, if you can’t be BOTHERED to read what you’re putting in your body it is NOT the manufactures fault!! It is YOURS!! Lawsuits like this are just one of the many problems in America today. Everyone has to blame someone else for their own ineptitude!
Please add me
You people are all nuts. Lite doesn’t mean diet and never has. It’s lite because of the SUGAR content. 19g sugar per can versus 50+ for a can of any regular soda………..it’s not rocket science to see that’s LITE. Look at any DIET can of soda. What does it say? Does it have calories?–NO!! Does it have sugar?—–NO! Give it a break people. If you don’t read the labels it’s your own fault!! If you don’t know that LITE doesn’t mean DIET, that’s your own fault!!! Suing a good company because you can’t manage your own diet/calories/sugar content is pathetic. Such a sad world we live where this is an action law suit. You should all be ashamed. I doubt you people have a leg to stand on in court. When my son asked me to start buying this, I read the label because I don’t buy soda and wanted to make sure this wasn’t just a replacement for soda. I agreed to buy because it’s less sugar. Plain and simple. Read the labels.
I started a new diet cutting down sugars and thought Arnold Palmer lite was lower in sugar. I’m disappointed and have stopped drinking it. Totally misled by the name. My A1C levels were high so needed to start diet and cut out normal soda drinks for diet and Arnold Palmer lite. Sad I guess I should have read the ingredients.
It is lower in sugar. Did you used to drink soda? Soda has 50+ grams per can. This tea has 19. Only way to get away from sugar and drink something in a can is to buy diet. Then you’re putting God knows what chemicals in your body. Water is the best thing for you anyway. Try adding lemon or orange to water.
I have been buying multi gallons at a time for at least four or five years. Include me.
Me too, I thought it was diet based on the labelling
I have been buying it for years and always had to dilute it to reduce the sugar content. Add me to your list. I notice Walmart lists it as out of stock?
Please add me.
I purchase this specifically because it says”lite”. Please include me.
Add me