BluePrint Organic Class Action Says Juice is Deceptively Mislabeled

A New York man says the labeling on BluePrint juice drinks makes consumers think they’re fresher and less processed than they actually are.

Plaintiff Josh Davis claims defendants Hain Celestial Group and Hain Blueprint Inc. have been selling mislabeled juice drinks under the BluePrint brand. Labeling that presents these products as fresh and unprocessed fail to disclose the significant amount of processing that their ingredients go through, he claims.

The products at issue are 16-ounce fruit and vegetable juice-based drinks, sold under the brand names BluePrint Cold Pressed Juice and BluePrint Organic. The labeling for BluePrint Cold Pressed Juice describes it as “Raw and Organic,” while that for BluePrint Organic characterizes the product as a “Raw Vegetable and Fruit Drink.”

Davis says the term “Cold Pressed” is misleading, given the aggressive processing that BluePrint’s fruit juice goes through after being pressed. Once the juice has been pressed out of the fruit pulp, he says, it undergoes high-pressure processing used to preserve the juice.

According to Davis, bottles of BluePrint Cold Pressed Juice are subjected to pressurization as high as 87,000 pounds per square inch. The point of this pressurization is to extend the products’ shelf life. Davis says it increases the shelf life from a few days to as much as six weeks.

But the same process adulterates the product into something different from what’s described on the label, Davis claims.

“The high pressure process causes a compositional change to the Products by reducing the microbial, enzymatic and bacterial activity and intact cellular structures which existed in the juice after extraction and prior to high pressure treatment,” according to this BluePrint class action lawsuit.

The pressurization process also increases the products’ temperature – contrary to the indication on the label that says it was “Never Heated,” Davis says.

Davis also takes issue with the use of the term “Manifreshto” on the label for BluePrint Cold Pressed Juice. He argues it runs contrary to FDA guidelines for the use of the term “fresh,” which according to the agency applies only to products that are in a raw state and have not been subject to any preservation.

Similarly, labeling the products as “raw” gives a false impression that they have not undergone any processing other than the initial pressing, Davis claims.

Davis is bringing his claims on behalf of a proposed nationwide Class that includes all consumers in the U.S. who purchased any of the products at issue within the applicable statutory limitations period.

He seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions that would require Hain to correct their allegedly unlawful unlableing of BluePrint products. He also seeks awards of damages, court costs and attorney’s fees.

Davis’s attorneys are Joshua Levin-Epstein of Levin-Epstein & Associates PC and Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The BluePrint Juice Mislabeling Class Action Lawsuit is Davis v. The Hain Celestial Group Inc. and Hain Blueprint Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-05191, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.