Judge Gives Kre-Alkalyn Creatine Class Action Lawsuit OK to Proceed

By Anne Bucher

A California federal judge refused to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging that a dietary supplement maker lied about the effects of its muscle-building creatine products.

U.S. District Judge Steven V. Wilson refused to dismiss a class action lawsuit against All American Pharmaceutical & Natural Foods that accused the company of breach of warranty and violations of California’s unfair competition law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act and False Advertising Law. Judge Wilson found that the plaintiff had asserted sufficient claims to survive dismissal.

Plaintiff Drew Yacu filed the class action lawsuit in May 2012 on behalf of consumers who had purchased Kre-Alkalyn EFX Creatine in the last four years.

All American claims that its creatine products’ bioavailability is superior to creatine monohydrate, which, according to Yacu, is the most scientifically supported form of the dietary supplement that consumers can buy. Bioavailability means that the product does not lose its potency when ingested.

“If it is true that the product and creatine monohydrate are both 100 percent bioavailable in effect, then defendant’s assertion that the product is the ‘world’s only creatine that doesn’t lose potency’ may be misleading: a reasonable consumer could be led to believe that the product is more bioavailable compared to creatine monohydrate even though it is not,” Judge Wilson wrote. 

According to the Kre-Alkalyn Creatine class action lawsuit, All American also asserts that Kre-Alkalyn is superior to creatine monohydrate because it is effective at lower doses. All American claimed that people who took Kre-Alkalyn experienced a 28.5 percent strength increase overall when compared to those who took creatine monohydrate.

Yacu believes that this claim is misleading because it was based on a study in which participants took five times the daily recommended low dosage. Judge Wilson found this assertion could potentially support a fraudulent misrepresentation claim.

Yacu also claims that the Kre-Alkalyn label implies that the product does not have the same side effects as creatine monohydrate, such as water retention or “loading,” despite there being no evidence that Kre-Alkalyn had fewer side effects. In fact, the product’s website insists that Kre-Alkalyn has “[all] of the benefits of creatine without the downside.” The website specifically claims that the product has “no side effects.”

In his class action lawsuit, Yacu claims that the Kre-Alkalyn product actually has fewer benefits than creatine monohydrate and that it was worth less than he paid for it. He says that he “did not receive what he paid for” when he purchased the Kre-Alkalyn product from an online retailer in December 2011. He claims that he relied on the product label and other information provided on the website.

Yacu must file a motion for class certification by October 25, 2013. A hearing on the Kre-Alkalyn creatine class action lawsuit will be held on November 25.

Plaintiffs are represented by Nick Suciu III of Oliver Law Group PC.   

The Kre-Alkalyn Creatine Class Action Lawsuitcase is Drew Yacu v. All American Pharmaceutical and Natural Foods Inc. et al., Case No. 2:12-cv-03945, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Updated August 1st, 2013

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