Tradewinds Class Action Challenges ‘100% Natural’ Iced Tea Label

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A California class action lawsuit alleges that Tradewinds brand iced tea and sweet tea products are not “100% natural,” contain “100% natural ingredients,” or contain “all natural ingredients,” as the product packaging claims.

The complaint asserts that many flavors of tea actually “contain the artificial coloring, caramel color, which is not a natural ingredient, rendering these statements false.”

The Tradewinds iced tea “100% natural” class action lawsuit states that multiple consumer surveys show how important product claims of being “all natural” are.

A survey by Consumer Reports in 2015 found that over half of U.S. consumers “seek out products with a ‘natural’ food label.” A separate poll by Nielsen’s also in 2015 concluded that 88 percent of consumers “are willing to pay more for healthier foods.”

The class action argues that Tradewinds knows about consumers’ interest in “all natural” products, and is playing on that with its false advertising. In support of its claim, the class action cites the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has determined that the term “natural” means that there is nothing “artificial or synthetic” in the food product. In addition, the FDA has held that “ ‘all color additives regardless of source’ are artificial or synthetic.”

Therefore, the class action alleges that Tradewinds products which contain caramel coloring and which are supposed to be “100% natural” or “all natural” violate California’s unfair trade practice and warranty laws.

According to the complaint, the products that use caramel color include Tradewinds sweet tea, extra sweet tea, lemon tea, raspberry tea, unsweet tea, unsweet tea with a hint of lemon, unsweet tea with a hint of rasberry, and unsweet tea with a hint of peach.

Plaintiff Angerlia Martin states that starting in 2014, she has purchased at a handful of grocery stores in Pasadena, Calif., various flavors of Tradewinds iced teas roughly once per week. Martin claims that she purchased these drinks based on the products’ claims that they were all natural.

The complaint contends that Tradewinds iced tea products “cost more than similar products without misleading labeling, and would have cost less absent the false and/or misleading All Natural Claims.” Martin says she would not have been willing to pay as much for the iced tea if Tradewinds truthfully advertised its products.

The lawsuit requests certification of a Class of “all persons in California who, on or after December 14, 2012…purchased, for personal or household use and not for resale or distribution, the Tradewinds’ Iced Tea Products.”

The class action seeks restitution for consumers, treble damages under California consumer protection laws, and punitive damages. In addition, the lawsuit requests an injunction stopping Tradewinds from “using any challenged labeling or marketing claim that is found to be false, misleading, or unlawful,” and to engage in a corrective advertising campaign.

Martin is represented by Trevor M. Flynn, Jack Fitzgerald, and Melanie Persinger of The Law Office of Jack Fitzgerald PC.

The Tradewinds Iced Tea “100% Natural” Class Action Lawsuit is Angerlia Martin v. Tradewinds Beverage Company, Case No. 2:16-cv-09249, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.