Plaintiff Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Bud Light Lime-A-Rita Class Action

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A plaintiff representing a proposed Class of Bud Light Lime-A-Rita drinkers has asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revive a class action lawsuit alleging Anheuser-Busch LLC dupes consumers into thinking the beverage is low-calorie even though it is loaded with sugar.

Attorneys representing plaintiff Sheila Cruz urged a panel of three appellate judges to reverse a decision by U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. to dismiss the Bud Light Lime-A-Rita class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses Anheuser-Busch of deceptively labeling the alcoholic beverage to convince consumers that the calorie content is similar to Bud Light, even though Bud Light Lime-A-Rita contains almost triple the calories of the light beer.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys claim using the term “light” on the Lime-A-Rita label is misleading to consumers, and that Judge Birotte erred when he dismissed the class action lawsuit at the pleadings stage after finding that “no reasonable consumer” would be deceived by the label because there is no full-calorie version of the Lime-A-Rita beverage.

During the oral arguments, the appellate judges expressed skepticism of this claim and suggested that the Lime-A-Rita label included a picture of an ordinary margarita, which likely has more calories than the Bud Light Lime-A-Rita.

Cruz’s attorneys disagreed with this assessment, finding that consumers were just as likely to compare the Lime-A-Rita to Bud Light or Bud Light Lime based on the logo. Both of these beverages reportedly have far fewer calories than the Bud Light Lime-A-Rita.

Attorneys representing Anheuser-Busch had earlier urged the appellate panel to uphold Judge Birotte’s dismissal of the Lime-A-Rita class action lawsuit, arguing that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau had found that it was acceptable to use the term “light” on the alcoholic beverage and that the company therefore has safe harbor from the class action lawsuit.

Anheuser-Busch’s attorneys also argued that a reasonable consumer would not think that a Bud Light Lime-A-Rita has fewer calories than a Budweiser beer.

Cruz initially filed the Bud Light Lime-A-Rita class action lawsuit in November 2014. She alleges the Lime-A-Rita is the highest-calorie beverage that Anheuser-Busch sells. According to the Lime-A-Rita class action lawsuit, eight ounces of the Lime-A-Rita beverage contain 192 to 220 calories, whereas a full-calorie Budweiser beer has only 145 calories and a normal Bud Light beer has 110 calories in 12 ounces.

The Lime-A-Rita class action lawsuit asserts that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration limits the use of the term “light” to products that have up to two-thirds of the calories as the full-calorie version of the product.

The Lime-A-Rita class action lawsuit was removed to California federal court in December 2014. The case was dismissed in June 2015, and the plaintiffs subsequently appealed the case to the 9th Circuit.

Cruz is represented by Christopher Ridout, Caleb Marker and Behdad G. Sadeghi of Zimmerman Reed LLP and Kevin Mahoney of Mahoney Law Group APC.

The Bud Light Lime-A-Rita Class Action Lawsuit is Sheila Cruz, et al. v. Anheuser-Busch LLC, Case No. 15-56021, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.