Naked Juice sued for being marketed as healthier than it really is

Looks like the naked truth is coming out about PepsiCo’s Naked Juice!

Read more: 5 ‘healthy’ beverages that aren’t as healthy as you thought

Misleading advertising claims

Consumer advocacy group the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) alleges in a new class action lawsuit that PepsiCo’s marketing of Naked Juice misleads consumers.

Naked Juice products can correctly make a claim on their label to have ‘no sugar added.’ But as the CSPI complaint points out, that languages ignores the fact that some flavors such as Pomegranate Blueberry have a whopping 61 grams of sugar in a single serving.

Not sure how much sugar that really is? Consider this:  A can of Pepsi has 41 grams of sugar! To put it another way, Pomegranate Blueberry has about 15 teaspoons of sugar while Pepsi has about six teaspoons.

The American Heart Association, meanwhile, says men should have no more than nine teaspoons of added sugar every day and women should have no more than six teaspoons daily.

Also at issue in the lawsuit is PepsiCo’s practice of naming flavors like the Kale Blazer after ‘good’ veggies and then prominently displaying the leafy green vegetable on the label. Yet the beverage contained therein lists orange juice and apple juice as the first and third ingredient, respectively. The second ingredient is kale puree.

CSPI’s complaint goes on to address PepsiCo’s reliance on ad tag lines like ‘only… the best ingredients’ and ‘just the healthiest fruits and vegetables.’ Such phrases are used to sell Naked Juice to consumers at a premium price.  

PepsiCo. says the CSPI lawsuit is without merit and that it stands behind it marketing of Naked Juice.

Just the latest in a recent history of misleading claims among ‘healthy’ beverages

This isn’t the first time a ‘healthy’ beverage has been accused of false advertising before the courts.

Just last year, Blue Diamond was sued for making untrue claims about its almond milk being packed full of almond-y goodness.

That particular lawsuit took issue with the fact that almonds reportedly only account for 2% of Blue Diamond’s product. The rest is apparently water, sugar, sunflower lecithin and a thickener called carrageenan.

The latter has suspected links to gastrointestinal diseases such as ulcerative colitis, intestinal lesions and colon cancer.

Read more: Why you should stop drinking low-fat milk

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