Gatorade Fit false advertising lawsuit trimmed but to proceed

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Update:

• A federal judge in California dismissed part of a twice-amended class action lawsuit accusing PepsiCo of misbranding its Gatorade Fit drinks as “healthy.” 
• U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney trimmed a request for equitable restitution made as part of an unfair competition claim.
• The consumer behind the complaint failed to adequately allege that, outside of equitable restitution, he would otherwise lack a plausible legal remedy, Judge Carney ruled. 
• He also determined there were other remedies available under other laws. 
• However, Judge Carney found the plaintiff showed he relied on allegedly misleading labeling when purchasing the Gatorade Fit drink. 
• Judge Carney gave the consumer until Dec. 13 to file another amended complaint. 

Gatorade Fit lawsuit overview: 

• Who: A Gatorade Fit consumer is suing its manufacturer, PepsiCo Inc.
• Why: The plaintiff says the product is falsely advertised.
• Where: The Gatorade Fit lawsuit was filed in a California federal court.

(March 02, 2023)

Gatorade Fit beverages are misbranded because they do not meet California’s legal requirements to justify adding additional vitamins, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff David Gumner filed the class action lawsuit against PepsiCo Inc. on Feb. 24 in a California federal court, alleging violations of state and federal consumer laws. 

According to the lawsuit, Pepsi sells a line of Gatorade Fit drinks that it markets and labels as “Real Healthy Hydration” because it has “no added sugar” and is an “Eexcellent source of vitamin A & C.”

However, Pepsi’s use of these claims renders the Gatorade Fit products misbranded because “they do not meet the specific requirements necessary to make these claims,” Gumner alleges.

Pepsi is not allowed to fortify its Gatorade Fit drinks in the way that it does, lawsuit alleges

A product can legally be advertised as “healthy” if it contains at least 10% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A and vitamin C, Gumner states.

PepsiCo adds electrolytes and fortifies Gatorade Fit with ascorbic acid (vitamin C), nNiacinamide (vitamin B3), beta carotene (vitamin A), calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5) and pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), Gumner states, so that all the beverages contain 100% of the FDA’s daily recommended value of each of these vitamins. 

However, under California law, fortification is permitted in only four circumstances, none of which PepsiCo meets in this case, Gumner says.

For example, PepsiCo’s fortification of Gatorade Fit allegedly does not correct a dietary insufficiency, does not restore nutrients to a level representative of the food prior to processing,  does not “avoid nutritional inferiority” when replacing a traditional food, and is not in proportion to the total caloric content, the lawsuit states.

As a result, Gumner says consumers have been financially harmed. He seeks to represent anyone in California who bought Gatorade Fit Products in the past four years. 

He is suing for violations of California consumer law, and unjust enrichment and seeks certification for the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial. 

In 2020, customers across three states filed a class action lawsuit saying that BodyArmor SuperDrink is not a health drink as implied by the product’s advertising, but is really more akin to a soda. 

What do you think of the allegations against Gatorade in this case? Let us know in the comments. 

He is represented by Jack Fitzgerald, Melanie Persinger and Trevor M. Flynn of Fitzgerald Joseph LLP.

The PepsiCo Inc. class action lawsuit is David Gumner et al., v. PepsiCo Inc., Case No. 8:23-cv-00332 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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