Consumers Say LaCroix is Falsely Advertised as ‘All Natural’

A class action has been filed in an Illinois state court alleging that LaCroix is not “100% Natural” as it is advertised and instead contains chemicals used in insecticides and cancer treatments.

Plaintiff Lenora Rice recently filed a LaCroix class action lawsuit against National Beverage Corp., alleging that the company’s LaCroix beverages are wrongly advertised as “100% Natural.” Rice claims that LaCroix beverages actually contain ingredients which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies as synthetic.

“Thousands of consumers purchase defendant’s water under the mistaken belief that it conforms with representations made by defendant on LaCroix’s packaging and advertisements,” the class action claims. “Because LaCroix water is, in fact, composed of substances that are not ‘all natural’ there are thousands of purchasers of defendant’s product — including plaintiff and class members — who would not have purchased LaCroix water had they known defendant’s representations were false.”

LaCroix is a popular sparkling water beverage that comes in a large variety of flavors. The beverages are allegedly heavily marketed as “all natural” in advertisements and on the boxes. Rice contends that the defendant aggressively fosters the perception that their LaCroix products are “innocent”, “naturally essence,” and “all natural.”

Rice’s class action lawsuit comes only one month after National Beverage announced that it had passed the $1 billion revenue mark. According to the company’s 2017 annual report, National Beverage’s net sales increased from $646 million in 2015 to $827 million in 2017. Rice says that this revenue is made at the expense of consumers.

According to the LaCroix class action lawsuit, the popular fizzy beverage contains synthetic compounds including ethyl butanoate, limonene, linalool, and linalool propionate. Limonene is allegedly known to cause toxicity in the kidneys and the formation of cancers. Linalool is allegedly used in insecticides to kill cockroaches and linalool propionate is reportedly used in the treatment of cancer.

All of these ingredients are reportedly classified by the FDA as synthetic ingredients. Rice claims that this classification means that National Beverage cannot claim that their LaCroix products are “all natural,” because they contain synthetic ingredients.

National Beverage released a statement in response to the class action lawsuit claiming that the flavorings it uses are derived from “natural essence oils” from fruits. The company reports that their suppliers have certified these ingredients to be natural.

The claims made by Rice are “false, defamatory and intended to intentionally damage National Beverage and its shareholders,” the company said in their statement. “National Beverage will vigorously seek actual and punitive damages among other remedies from everyone involved in the publication of these defamatory falsehoods.”

The suit accuses the company of breach of express warranties, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act.

Rice seeks to represent a Class of Illinois consumers who purchased LaCroix within the last four years. The LaCroix class action lawsuit seeks disgorgement, damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Rice is represented by William Beaumont of Beaumont Costales LLC.

The LaCroix Class Action Lawsuit is Rice et al. v. National Beverage Corp., Case No. 2018­CH­12302, in the Circuit Court of Cook County.