Coca-Cola Urges 9th Circuit To Dismiss Diet Coke Class Action

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The Coca-Cola Company is asking the Ninth Circuit to uphold the dismissal of a class action lawsuit alleging the soda maker duped consumers by deeming its artificially sweetened version “diet.”

Lead plaintiff Shana Becerra accused the beverage giant of tricking consumers into thinking the so-called “diet” Coca-Cola would help them to lose weight.

According to this Diet Coke class action lawsuit, the artificial sweeteners used in Diet Coke have been found by scientists to actually cause weight gain and other health issues.

The Coca-Cola class action lawsuit faced dismissal in California federal court, with U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup determining that the science behind the plaintiff’s claims was not sufficient. However, the judge gave the plaintiff leave to amend the Diet Coke class action lawsuit.

The plaintiff appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit, arguing that studies show that nonnutritive sweeteners, like the aspartame used in Diet Coke, actually interferes with the body’s ability to metabolize food, leading to weight gain and even chronic diseases, like diabetes.

Becerra alleges that Coca-Cola tricked millions of consumers into thinking Diet Coke was a healthy choice.

The beverage maker shot back, urging the Ninth Circuit to against dismiss the Coca-Cola Diet Coke false advertising class action lawsuit.

“Even if consumers did share Becerra’s idiosyncratic interpretation of ‘diet,’ the scientific studies on which she relies do not render that understanding false,” Coca­-Cola stated in its memo asking for dismissal of the class action lawsuit. “The studies demonstrate no causal connection between artificial sweetener consumption and weight gain, and in many instances expressly disclaim such a causative link.”

The Coca-Cola class action lawsuit is not the first of its kind filed by the plaintiff either, noted the drink maker in its motion to dismiss. The plaintiff has filed several other class action lawsuits based on alleged scientific findings that fake sweeteners used in so-called diet drinks can actually cause the weight gain consumers are attempting to avoid.

“’Diet’ soft drinks are ubiquitous in the marketplace, and consumers are well aware that ‘diet’ beverages are reduced calorie substitutes for their full calorie counterparts,” states the drink maker in its motion to dismiss the Diet Coke class action lawsuit.

“[The plaintiff] contends that ‘diet’ connotes that a soft drink confers an intrinsic benefit in terms of weight management,” continues the motion. “This is a falsehood, Becerra claims, because a handful of studies purportedly show a relationship between consumption of the artificial sweetener used in some diet beverages and weight gain, not weight loss or maintenance. By filing this case and five others like it, Becerra and her counsel seek to upend the federal requirements that govern use the term ‘diet,’ impose new requirements that differ from the dictionary definition of the word, and prevent Coca-Cola from calling its iconic soft drink ‘Diet Coke.’”

The plaintiff is represented by Jack Fitzgerald, Trevor M. Flynn and Melanie Persinger of The Law Office of Jack Fitzgerald PC, and Andrew Sacks and John Weston of Sacks Weston Diamond LLC.

The Coca-Cola Diet Coke False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Becerra v. The Coca-Cola Co., Case No. 18-15365, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.