Class Action: Pure Brazilian Coconut Water Falsely Advertised as ‘Pure’

Pure Brazilian LLC was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging their coconut water product is falsely advertised as “pure.”

Lead plaintiff, New York resident Houman Khallili, alleges in his class action lawsuit that Pure Brazilian Coconut Water is advertised as “cold pressed” and “pure,” but the product is processed in a way that consumers would not expect using this labeling.

Khallili says consumers pay a premium for Pure Brazilian Coconut Water; however, they would not pay up to $5.99 per bottle if they knew how the product was processed.

The plaintiff allegedly purchased Pure Brazilian Coconut Water based on representations on the bottle that the product was “pure” and “cold pressed” and that he would receive the increased nutritional benefits from those processing methods.

“Defendant manufactures the Products through two main production steps,” explains the coconut water class action lawsuit. “The first is the extraction of coconut water through slicing it in half or perforating it at the top, which releases the liquid into a collection tray before being bottled. The second is high pressure processing, where the bottles are subjected to pressure up to 87,000 pounds per square inch (‘psi’). This reduces the biological, enzymatic and bacterial activity, but increases shelf life from 3-5 days to 6-8 weeks.”

According to the Pure Brazilian class action lawsuit, consumers are misled by the product’s packaging to think that the juice undergoes a much different process and retains more nutrients. The bottle, says the plaintiff, also implies that other coconut waters are “impure.”

“Consumers pay a premium for a cold pressed juice product because it means more nutrients are retained than if a centrifugal machine like a blender was used,” alleges the Pure Brazilian Coconut Water class action lawsuit.

The class action lawsuit also points out that the bottle contains warning labels that are generally reserved for much more perishable products.

“Defendant mimics certain indicia associated with unprocessed juice products, such as the statements of ‘HIGHLY PERISHABLE’ and ‘ATTENTION:,'” states the lawsuit. However, the process that Pure Brazilian uses to treat the coconut water gives the product a shelf-life of many weeks, not just days.

According to the coconut water class action, “no reasonable consumer would expect a label to imitate something so pedantic and technical as a warning label, such that after seeing ‘ATTENTION:’ they will not even be inclined to read what follows, and will accept the overall impression that the Products are indeed ‘pure’ since they contain the equivalent of a warning label.”

Khallili seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased Pure Brazilian Coconut Water during the statute of limitations. The plaintiff alleges that Pure Brazilian has violated New York business laws, committed fraud, breached implied warranties, and has received unjust enrichment from its alleged false advertising.

The plaintiff is seeking damages, including interest and treble and punitive damages, along with a court order stopping Pure Brazilian from marketing the water as “pure” and “cold pressed.”

Khallili is represented by Joshua Levin-Epstein of Levin-Epstein & Associates PC, and Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The Pure Brazilian Coconut Water Class Action Lawsuit is Khallili v. Pure Brazilian LLC, Case No. 2:17-cv-06425, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.