Tropicana Orange Juice Class Action Moves Forward

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A group of Tropicana orange juice consumers are seeking class certification of a lawsuit filed against the fruit-based beverage maker over claims that the company falsely advertises the product as 100% pure and natural.

Plaintiffs in Dennis Lynch v. Tropicana Products Inc. alleged that the “all natural” label on Tropicana’s not-from-concentrate Pure Premium Orange Juice is improper because the juice is pasteurized and contains added flavoring and coloring.

In particular, the plaintiffs claim that Tropicana’s Pure Premium Orange Juice is “pasteurized, de-aerated, stripped of flavor and aroma, stored for long periods of time before available to the public, and colored and flavored before being packaged.”

The customers are seeking certification for their claims against Tropicana for unjust enrichment, breach of express warranty, numerous violations of New York, New Jersey and California consumer protection as well as consumer fraud laws.

The customers originally filed the complaint back in 2011, stating that Tropicana advertisements and labeling fail to disclose that its Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice is scientifically designed and modified with artificial flavoring and aroma.

The Tropicana OJ lawsuit claims that instead of being all natural, Tropicana uses “chemically engineered ‘flavor packs’ derived from sources other than those used to make the juice, including oils from peels of oranges imported from Mexico, Brazil and other foreign countries.”

Tropicana holds numerous patents that concern the manipulation and chemical deconstruction of orange peels, a waste by-product of orange juicing, into colorants, flavoring and even “peel juice,” the plaintiff claims. The processing helps extend the orange juice’s shelf life and maintain the consistency in color and taste of the juice.

According to the proposed class action lawsuit, consumers’ perception of foods, and in particular, natural foods, affect their purchasing decisions and assumptions regarding the orange juice. Accordingly, shoppers relied on the promise of “100% pure and natural orange juice,” a repeated theme throughout Tropicana’s advertising. In addition, Tropicana’s website says Pure Premium has 16 fresh-picked oranges squeezed into each 59-ounce container.

Back in June 2013, the court partly denied Tropicana’s motion to dismiss the class action suit brought forth by Lynch and seven other plaintiffs, rejecting Tropicana’s argument that the claims were preempted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules.

U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh delivered his opinion finding that the state regulations at issue were identical to federal regulations, because both state and federal regulations require “accurate and complete labeling of a product’s ingredients,” including the disclosure of added flavoring.

The Tropicana Orange Juice lawsuit seeks to represent all consumers of Tropicana’s Pure Premium Orange Juice in 36 states and the District of Columbia who purchased the product from 2008 to the present.

The proposed Class is represented by Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein Brody & Agnello PC, Seeger Weiss LLP, Complex Litigation Group LLC, Bursor & Fisher PA, Faruqi & Faruqi LLP, Reese LLP and Ademi & O’Reilly LLP.

The Tropicana Orange Juice False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Dennis Lynch v. Tropicana Products Inc., Case No. 2:11-cv-07382, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

UPDATE: On Sept. 9, 2016, Tropicana buyers who say the juice maker falsely advertises its products as “pure and natural” urged a federal judge to reject a bid for dismissal, asserting that a recent Third Court precedential opinion has no bearing on this case.