Is naked juice healthier? Or it’s all marketing BS? Ah, a burst of good news for the trying-to-be-healthy, tired-of-being-lied-to consumer. Isn’t that encouraging. In a $9 million settlement reached in July, Naked Juice’s parent company, PepsiCo, agreed to refund consumers who bought certain Naked Juice products and decided to remove the words “All Natural” from the juice’s packaging.
A class action lawsuit, filed in a district court of California, was consolidated from five class action complaints filed against Naked Juice (owned by PepsiCo). The plaintiffs alleged that Naked Juice (you know, that $4/bottle oh-so-pure-seeming juice) made false health claims on the brand’s packaging, namely that it used the marketing words “All Natural” on its bottles, allegedly intending to lure consumers the company knew would pay more for seemingly authentic, wholesome, naturally healthy juice.
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In addition to the words “All Natural,” the brand’s use of the following terms on its juice bottles was also brought under scrutiny:
* All Natural Fruit
* All Natural Fruit + Boosts
* 100% Fruit
* 100% Juice
* Non-GMO
* From Concentrate
PepsiCo refuted the claims. The company stands by its Naked Juice products. However, it has also decided to no longer use the words “All Natural” on the juice packaging. The beverage company will refund consumers who purchased certain of its juice products between September 27, 2007 and August 19, 2013.
The refund here, up to $75 for those with proof of purchase and up to $45 for those without, is only half of this win. The big score here are the holes poked in such enticing, deceptive “health” marketing terms plastered on labels, such as “All Natural.” It’s a way to water down these words in the consumers’ minds and remind buyers that rather than trusting a product to tell them it is healthy, it is far better to check labels and stick with the truly all-natural (as in from the earth) foods such as raw, whole produce.
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The lawsuit claimed that Naked Juice/PepsiCo violated consumer protection statutes as well as federal and state laws regarding advertising, labeling and marketing of some of its products since they contained ingredients such as genetically modified soy.
A statement detailing the settlement of the class action lawsuit read: “The lawsuit claims that the [Naked Juice Products] contain ingredients that are not ‘All Natural’ and contain GMOs, or Genetically Modified Oganisms.”
On Naked Juice’s Facebook page, which has amassed some 785,357 followers, the company states in its About Us section, “In 1983, on the beach in Santa Monica, California, a line was drawn in the sand, metaphorically speaking. A line between real and fake, between truth and falsehood, between juice and the previous lack thereof.”
Oh, goodness, that seems rather hilarious at the present time, no?
Another descriptive blurb on the social media page reads, “This is fruit’s higher purpose. Only the best ingredients go into our bottles. Just the healthiest fruits and vegetables, and a heaping handful of yum.” Well that and allegedly some synthetic ingredients and GMOs.
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To be fair, it shouldn’t just be brands like PepsiCo’s Naked Juice and Kellogg’s Kashi (who faced a similar lawsuit) that are under the gun here. The public needs to hold agencies such as the FDA and the FTC, those charged with regulating product advertising, accountable.
That’s because, as Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, pointed out on her Food Politics blog back in March, 2012, “The meaning of ‘natural’ . . . many people perceive as the equivalent to organic or healthy. As I’ve said before, it isn’t. Natural has no regulatory meaning.”
Got that? Remember it. Don’t be bamboozled.
The FDA does not have a definition for natural and does not offer regulatory guidance on its usage. Nor does the FTC. Nestle goes on to explain that research shows that shoppers link the word “healthy” with the words “natural” or “minimally processed” foods — even though the word “natural” is actually meaningless on a label.
The managers of the brand’s Facebook page must have been working overtime to handle all the comments left from disappointed consumers (who says activism is dead?). Some consumers’ comments claimed that some of their other comments had been deleted; some consumers’ comments, such as a from a gal named Shannon, were answered in the comments section:
Naked Juice: ” Hi Shannon, hope this helps. Naked juice and smoothies will continue to be labeled “non-GMO,” and until there is more detailed regulatory guidance around the word “natural” — we’ve chosen not to use “All Natural” on our packaging. To ensure that our consumers most concerned about that issue can feel even more confident about Naked products, we plan to enlist an independent, third-party to confirm our non-GMO status across the entire Naked brand portfolio. From our ingredients to our practices, we always strive to do the right things.”
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One of the attorneys who filed a PepsiCo lawsuit (in September 2011) on behalf of a Texas resident, Yvette Golan, also filed a suit against Kashi’s parent company, Kellogg’s. Despite the biggie parent companies lawyering up, neither case was dismissed. Golan has said that she plans to file cases in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Hawaii in the future. Since back in 2012, there has been an spike in lawsuits filed by plaintiffs alleging companies falsely advertised products “all natural” or “100% natural” when the products contained synthetic ingredients or genetically modified organisms, reports LegalNews.com, which listed past defendants, which included Ben & Jerry’s, Frito-Lay, Snapple, and Trader Joe’s among other household brands.
Remember, dear Reader, “All Natural”: don’t believe the type. You’re way smarter than that.
