Coca-Cola Stuck with Minute Maid Juice False Ad Class Action

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On Monday, the class action lawsuit accusing Coca-Cola Co. of false advertising of its Minute Maid Enhanced Pomegranate Blueberry Juice survived the beverage company’s motion to dismiss the claims.

Lead plaintiff Niloofar Saeidian filed the Minute Maid class action lawsuit in 2009 against Coca Cola, alleging that its Pomegranate Blueberry juice blend consists mainly of cheap apple and grape juice, but Coke misleads consumers into thinking they are purchasing the more expensive pomegranate juice.

Saeidian further alleged that Coke fools consumers by calling the product “pomegranate blueberry” juice and displaying the two fruits next to each other on the label. Additionally, the plaintiff pointed out that a recent Supreme Court case revealed that the product actually contains only 0.3 percent pomegranate juice and 0.2 percent blueberry juice.

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero rejected Coca-Cola’s arguments that the class action should be dismissed earlier this week. Coke had argued that the class action claims were pre-empted by U.S. Food Drug and Cosmetic regulations, citing a case against another berry juice, Pom Wonderful.

Judge Otero rejected that argument pointing out, “The Supreme Court’s … opinion in Pom Wonderful, though addressing the issue of preclusion rather than preemption, explicitly rejected the ‘[assumption] that the FDCA and its regulations are at least in some circumstances a ceiling on the regulation of food and beverage labeling,” according to Monday’s order. “While there are specific regulations regarding the labeling of juice-containing beverages, these regulations operate in addition to, rather than in place of, the [Food Drug and Cosmetics Act]’s prohibition of misleading labeling,” he continued.

Coke had also argued in its motion to dismiss the Minute Maid class action lawsuit that because the plaintiff had only seen a few marketing materials before purchasing the product, she could not represent the class or bring the class action lawsuit. This argument was denied by Judge Ortero as well. The judge ruled that the plaintiff did not lose standing just because she had only seen a few ads, not all of them.

In a similar class action filed last November, lead plaintiff Tom Browne argued that Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid Pomegranate Blueberry 100% Fruit Juice Blend is marketed with false claims that it contains nutrients and amino acids that “support” the brain, when there is no evidence that those claims are true.

Saeidian is represented by Zev B. Zysman of Weiss Law LLP, and Jordan L. Lurie and Robert K. Friedl of Capstone Law APC.

The Minute Maid Pomegranate Blueberry Juice Class Action Lawsuit is Niloofar Saeidian v. The Coca Cola Co., Case No. 2:09-cv-06309, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: On Feb. 29, 2016, the plaintiff asked a California federal judge to preliminarily approve a proposed settlement that accused The Coca-Cola Company of falsely advertising the contents of its Minute Maid pomegranate blueberry juice.