Michael A. Kakuk  |  May 27, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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FDA says evaporated cane juice label misleadingThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued final guidance to the food industry and declared that it considers use of the term “evaporated cane juice” as an ingredient on food labels to be “false and misleading” under federal law.

“The term ‘evaporated cane juice’ is false or misleading because it suggests that the sweetener is ‘juice’ or is made from ‘juice’ and does not reveal that its basic nature and characterizing properties are those of a sugar,” the FDA declares.

Instead, any sweetener made from sugar cane should be called by its common name—“sugar”—according to the FDA. Other truthful, descriptive terms may be added to the word sugar, such as “cane sugar,” but not the word “juice.” In draft guidance issued in 2009, the FDA considered suggesting the term “dried cane syrup” instead, but after receiving many comments against that term, the FDA has decided that “sugar” is the most accurate and understandable term for sugar cane sweeteners.

The recent FDA guidance states that sugar cane is not a vegetable of the type that produces “juice,” as that term is commonly used, just like maple syrup would not be called “tree juice.” Therefore, any sweetener made from sugar cane should not be included as part of the calculation for any percentage of juice label. The FDA went on to announce that the agency “would consider a juice product sweetened with an ingredient derived from sugar cane and labeled as 100% fruit juice to be misbranded.”

This determination by the FDA may significantly impact several pending class action lawsuits filed against companies that used the term “evaporated cane juice” in their food label ingredients and advertising. A Trader Joe’s False Labeling Class Action Lawsuit filed in 2013, alleges that Trader Joe’s mislabeled multiple food products. Besides using the term “evaporated cane juice,” the class action lawsuit also accused Trader Joe’s of not disclosing coloring agents and preservative chemicals in its food labeling. The class action survived a motion to dismiss, but the lawsuit was stayed in 2014 pending the FDA’s review of the term “evaporated cane juice.”

A similar lawsuit was filed against Chobani in 2012. The Chobani Greek Yogurt Class Action Lawsuit asserts that Chobani misled consumers with the advertising and labeling of its greek yogurt as containing “all natural ingredients,” “no artificial flavors,” and sweetened with “evaporated cane juice.” The class action claims that Chobani yogurt actually contains artifical ingredients, flavorings, coloring, chemical preservatives, and sugar. The Chobani class action was dismissed in 2013, and again in 2014, and is currently on appeal before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The plaintiffs argued to the Ninth Circuit that they were trying to avoid foods with added sugar, and that they were misled by “evaporated cane juice” because they were specifically looking for ingredients with either “sugar” or “syrup” in them. The Chobani greek yogurt class action was also stayed pending the FDA review of “evaporated cane juice.”

The Trader Joe’s “Evaporated Cane Juice” Class Action Lawsuit is Amy Gitson, et al. v. Trader Joe’s Co., Case No. 13-cv-01333, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Chobani Greek Yogurt “Evaporated Cane Juice” Class Action Lawsuit is Kane, et al. v. Chobani Inc., Case No. 14-15670, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

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One thought on FDA States ‘Evaporated Cane Juice’ Label is Misleading

  1. Kristy McConnell says:

    Love jelly Bellys eat them all the time

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