Poppi gut health class action overview:
- Who: A California woman is suing beverage company Poppi.
- Why: The plaintiff claims that Poppi drinks are falsely advertised as being good for gut health when they contain minimal prebiotics and a high sugar content.
- Where: The Poppi gut health class action lawsuit was filed in a California federal court.
A California woman has slammed Poppi with a class action lawsuit that alleges the beverage company’s “Poppi Prebiotic Sodas” aren’t as good for the gut as is advertised.
Plaintiff Kristin Cobbs filed the class action lawsuit against Vngr Beverage LLC, doing business as Poppi, on May 29 in a California federal court, alleging violations of state and federal consumer laws.
Cobbs says the company advertises that consumers of Poppi Prebiotic Sodas can “Be Gut Happy and Be Gut Healthy.” However, she alleges the levels of prebiotics in the soda are too low, and the levels of sugar are too high, to justify this claim.
“As one nutritionist bluntly explained: the products ‘are basically sugared water,’” Cobbs alleges in her lawsuit.
Rapid rise in popularity
Poppi has quickly climbed the ranks as one of the most popular beverages in the
United States after appearing on the startup show Shark Tank in 2018 and securing a place on the shelves of Whole Foods, Cobbs says.
As of 2024, Poppi’s sales figures have topped $100 million dollars and continue to grow, now representing 19% in the US market share, even surpassing Coca-Cola by 1.5 times, the lawsuit states.
Cobbs alleges that Poppi’s success is largely due to its ability to offer a sweet beverage while also claiming to be “gut healthy” due to its inclusion of prebiotics. Prebiotics are a type of dietary fiber commonly found in food like bananas and whole grains.
However, Poppi soda only contains two grams of prebiotic fiber, an amount too low to cause meaningful gut health benefits for the consumer from just one can, Cobbs alleges.
“Accordingly, a consumer would need to drink more than four Poppi sodas in a day to realize any potential health benefits from its prebiotic fiber.”
A high-sugar beverage, lawsuit alleges
In addition to containing low levels of prebiotics, the drinks also contain a lot of sugar, the lawsuit alleges. Even if someone were to drink more than four cans of Poppi per day, the drink’s high sugar content would offset most, if not all, of the purported gut health benefits, Cobbs says.
The drink is mostly made with cane sugar, meaning drinking four cans of the product would be delivering a harmful level of sugar to the gut, the lawsuit says.
False marketing claims brought on behalf of consumers nationwide
As a result, the marketing claims that assure customers that the product is “gut healthy” are false, the lawsuit alleges. Cobbs is looking to represent anyone in the United States who bought the product, as well as a California subclass.
She’s suing for violations of California consumer laws and unjust enrichment, and seeking certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.
Consumers have recently filed class action lawsuits against a number of beverage brands alleging false advertising. The companies facing beverage-related lawsuits include Campbell Soup Co., Prime Hydration LLC, Molson Coors Beverage Company USA, Nestle USA, Sunny Delight Beverages Co. and Welch Foods.
The plaintiff is represented by L. Timothy Fisher and Joshua B. Glatt of Bursor & Fisher, P.A. and Adrian Gucovschi and Benjamin Rozenshteyn of Gucovschi Rozenshteyn, PLLC.
The Poppi Class Action Lawsuit is Kristin Cobbs v. Vngr Beverage LLC, Case No. 3:24-cv-03229-AGT in a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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256 thoughts onPoppi class action claims probiotic drink misleadingly advertised as ‘gut healthy’
Bought it specifically for the reason it was advertised to be helpful for digestive health. issues.