Coca-Cola Faces New Simply Orange Juice Class Action Lawsuit

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A disgruntled consumer filed a class action lawsuit against the Coca-Cola Co. Tuesday, alleging that it fraudulently promotes its “Simply Orange” juice product as “fresh” when the company allegedly uses stored ingredients and artificial flavor packs to manufacture the juice.

Lead plaintiff, California resident Gwen Phelps, claims in the Simply Orange juice class action lawsuit that she was deceived by Simply Orange’s labeling which included “such terms as: ‘100% Pure Squeezed,’ ‘Fresh Taste Guaranteed, ‘100% Orange Juice,’ and ‘No Water or Preservatives Added.'”

Phelps also alleges that “the Simply Orange website states, ‘since the launch of Simply Orange® in 2001, we have been making orange juice simple, the way nature intended.'” Instead, the Coca-Cola class action lawsuit claims, “the Simply Orange products are actually concocted via a highly-engineered and unnatural process – any thing but natural.”

The Simply Orange class action lawsuit claims that Coca-Cola uses a “Black Book” process to make the juices for Simply Orange.

“Black Book is not a natural growing process, but rather, an algorithm that includes data about consumer preferences and approximately 600 flavors that make up an orange,” the class action lawsuit says.

Phelps alleges that “Coca-Cola matches flavor data to a profile detailing many of the characteristics of an orange,” and “these ‘batches’ consist of a tank full of raw juice that may be as much as eight months to a year old. Portions from multiple batches are mixed together, some newer and some older, for a ‘fresh’ taste according to Black Book algorithms,” continues the class action lawsuit.

The Simply Orange class action lawsuit further alleges that, after processing removes taste and flavor, “Coca-Cola employs flavor and fragrance companies to engineer ‘flavor packs’ to inject back into the juice product to make it taste fresh – the same fragrance companies that formulate perfumes.”

The Coca-Cola class action lawsuit claims that Phelps and other similarly situated consumers have, or have had “a tasteless and colorless substance, that has been brought back to life via the Black Book process. It is inconceivable that consumers are aware that in purchasing Simply Orange for consumption, they are actually purchasing older batches of mixed product, engineered with algorithms and flavor packs, concocted via an unnatural process.”

Phelps claims that Coca-Cola’s labeling and marketing of Simply Orange juice and failure to disclose the production process of the product constitutes intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and false and misleading statements and violates California’s Business and Profession Code and the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act

The Simply Orange class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of a proposed Class of all California residents who purchased Simply Orange products in the state within 10 years prior the filing of the complaint. Phelps is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, an order requiring Coca-Cola to issue an advertising campaign correcting alleged misperceptions about Simply Orange products, and attorney fees and costs.

This is not the first class action lawsuit to be filed over the process in which Simply Orange juice is made. A Simply Orange juice class action lawsuit was filed in Illinois in April 2012. Since then, multiple other class action lawsuits have been filed. Multidistrict litigation has been pending against The Coca-Cola Co. involving similar allegations about its Simply Orange juice products in Missouri federal court. A total of 7 class action lawsuits are filed within the Simply Orange MDL.

Lead plaintiff, Gwen Phelps, is represented by Olivier A. Taillieu and Gilbert Perez III of National Injury Law Firm LLP.

The Coca-Cola Simply Orange Juice Class Action Lawsuit is Gwen Phelps v. The Coca-Cola Co., et al., Case No. BC547592, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.