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The maker of Canada Dry and Schweppes ginger ale is facing a potential class-action lawsuit from consumers upset that the popular pop (soda in the U.S.) allegedly does not contain natural ginger.
According to the false-advertising lawsuit, filed last month in California, Keurig Dr Pepper is falsely representing that its ginger ale products are made only with “Natural Flavors” or “Natural Ginger Flavor.”
The plaintiff claims that a commercial food testing lab found that DL-Malic acid was added to the products to make it taste like ginger ale. DL-Malic acid is a synthetic compound chemically processed in petrochemical plants.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit is California resident Lillian Elliot. She is the face of the proposed lawsuit. (A court must certify a lawsuit as viable and also representative of the entire class of plaintiffs.)
In the lawsuit, Elliot claims she purchased the allegedly mislabeled ginger ale products on multiple occasions. She also claims she purchased the products because she was specifically wanted beverages that did not contain artificial flavouring.
The lawsuit alleges that Keurig Dr Pepper did not disclose the artificial flavours used to create the drinks, but companies are required to do so under U.S. state and federal laws if “the food contains any artificial flavour which simulates, resembles or reinforces the characterizing flavour.”
Therefore, the claim says, the beverages have been misbranded and are illegal to sell.
The beverages at issue in the class-action suit include:
• Schweppes Diet Ginger Ale; • Schweppes Diet Raspberry Ginger Ale; • Schweppes Dry Grape Ginger Ale; • Schweppes Black Cherry Ginger Ale; • Canada Dry Diet Ginger Ale; • Canada Dry Zero Sugar Ginger Ale; • Canada Dry Zero Sugar Ginger Ale and Lemonade; and • Canada Dry Diet Cranberry Ginger Ale.
The lawsuit claims consumers would not have paid as much for the products, or perhaps not purchased them at all, had they known about the artificial flavouring.
One of the lawsuit aims to stop Keurig Dr Pepper from selling these ginger ale products — as they have been labeled — and to compensate consumers who sign on to the suit.
The lawyers for the claim are looking to represent any consumers who bought the ginger ale products in the United States since Nov. 1, 2018.
It’s not the first time a lawsuit has been filed against Canada Dry ginger ale. One, in the U.S. was settled in early 2019 for $11.2 million.
In Canada, a 2018 lawsuit was brought against Keurig Dr Pepper by B.C. man, Victor Cardoso, alleging he had been misled and that the maker had made false claims about the health benefits of its signature product.
Cardoso said he, his wife, and their daughters had all been routinely downing Canada Dry because they believed that the ginger in the carbonated soft drink gave it “health benefits.”
The Canadian division of Canada Dry manufacturer Keurig Dr Pepper used the words “Made From Real Ginger” on its packaging. Cardoso’s lawyer argued that the company’s claim wasn’t entirely accurate.
“They do buy actual ginger, but then what they do is they boil it in ethanol, and that essentially destroys any nutritional or medicinal benefits,” Mark Canofari said, adding that Canada Dry uses a ginger concentrate.
That lawsuit was settled in 2020. Canada Dry agreed to pay $200,000. However, the maker “expressly denie(d) liability and (stated it was) not required to change its product labelling or advertising for products marketed in Canada.”
The newest class-action is yet to be certified.
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