Liquid I.V. class action claims product falsely advertised as containing no preservatives

Liquid I.V. class action overview: 

• Who: The Liv Group and Unilever are facing a class action lawsuit related to its claims about Liquid I.V. 
• Why: Liquid I.V. contains preservatives despite claims that it does not, leading to false advertising claims.
• Where: The Liquid I.V. lawsuit was filed in federal court in California.

Unilever is facing a class action lawsuit because its Liquid I.V. product claims to not contain preservatives when it does.

Liquid I.V. includes citric acid, a chemical preservative as defined by the federal Food Drug & Cosmetic Act. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identifies citric acid as a preservative and said the same to companies in a 2010 letter.

Both Chiquita Brands International Inc. and Fresh Express Inc. received a Warning Letter where  FDA said citric acid was a preservative and needed to be identified as one in labeling, the Liquid I.V. preservatives lawsuit said.

“Citric acid’s primary use is as a preservative, despite potentially having additional functions,” the Liquid I.V. preservatives lawsuit said. “It functions as a preservative in the products, regardless of defendants’ subjective purpose(s) for adding it to the products, and regardless of any other functions citric acid may perform. This is even more the case here where the defendant has not declared a contrary purpose for adding citric acid and the Products separately contain flavorings (i.e., “natural flavor”) as an ingredient.”

Three chemicals in Liquid I.V. act as preservatives, class action claims

Liquid I.V. also includes potassium hydroxide, trisodium citrate and ascorbic acid, which either combine with citric acid or act as chemical preservatives on their own, the Liquid I.V. lawsuit says.

Consumer demand for preservative-free products has risen and making a “No Preservatives” claim adds a price premium to the product, the Liquid I.V. class action claims.

Costco labels, advertises and sells Kirkland brand cranberry juice products that are marketed to represent that they do not contain preservatives, despite the products containing ascorbic acid, a well known preservative, an October class action lawsuit alleges. 

Have you purchased and tried Liquid I.V.? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Michael D. Braun of Kuzyk Law and Peter N. Wasylyk of The Law Offices of Peter N. Wasylyk. 

The Liquid I.V. class action lawsuit is Meza-Soliven, et al. v. The Liv Group Inc., et al., Case No. 3:24-cv-00019-TWR-DDL, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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