AriZona Iced Tea Class-Action Lawsuit Crushed

SAN FRANCISCOA federal judge last month threw out a class-action lawsuit that alleged "All Natural" labels on AriZona Iced Tea drinks were deceptive and misleading because they contained citric acid and high fructose corn syrup.

Richard Seeborg, a U.S. District Court Judge in San Francisco, granted summary judgment against the named plaintiffs, Lauren Ries and Serena Algozer, and in favor of the defendants, Arizona Beverages USA LLC, Hornell Brewing Company, Inc., Beverage Marketing USA, Inc. and Ferolito, Vultaggio & Sons, Inc.

The 13-page order highlighted the shortcomings of the plaintiffs' lawyers, who failed to produce a single expert in the three-year-old case, which had been set for a May 13, 2013 trial. The plaintiffs' attorneys neglected to disclose expert witnesses or provide expert testimony reports by deadlines, and they didn't respond to their adversaries' contention that plaintiffs failed to support their claims for restitution or disgorgement, according to the March 28, 2013 order.

Plaintiffs "offer not a scintilla of evidence from which a finder of fact could determine the amount of restitution or disgorgement to which plaintiffs might be entitled if this case were to proceed to trial," Seeborg declared in his order.  

The judge also granted a request to decertify the class, resulting in the demise of the class-action lawsuit, because he determined plaintiffs' counsel couldn't adequately represent the class members.

"Since this class was certified, the Court has found that plaintiffs' counsel has been dilatory and has failed to prosecute this action adequately," the judge, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who was nominated by President Obama to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, stated.

The case would have proceeded to trial had plaintiffs produced evidence to show a genuine factual dispute over whether the "All Natural" labels were false or likely to deceive consumers based on the theory that citric acid and high fructose corn syrup are man-made ingredients rather than natural substances.

But plaintiffs produced no expert witnesses, Seeborg refused to take "judicial notice" of the fact that patents had been issued for the process of producing high fructose corn syrup, and he found the deposition of Hornell Brewing Company's owner, Don Vultaggio, unpersuasive in support of plaintiffs' claim that consumers are likely to be confused by the ice tea labels.

Plaintiffs "have neither intrinsic evidence that the labels are false (because HFCS and citric acid are not natural) or extrinsic evidence that a significant portion of the consuming public would be confused by them," Seeborg wrote.

An expert witness for the defendants, Rutgers University food scientist Dr. Thomas Montville, posited that citric acid and high fructose corn syrup are natural substances. Defendants also provided declarations from their suppliers that the substances are natural.

The complaint had sought restitution, disgorgement of profits, injunctive relief and attorneys fees under California laws, including the False Advertising Law, the Unfair Competition Law and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act. The alleged misleading statements on the labels included "100% Natural", "Natural" and "All Natural".