Vitamin Water Lawsuit

[Guest guest]

Wall Street

Journal<http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/07/26/what-do-jelly-beans-have-to-do-wi\

th-cokes-vitaminwater/?utm_source=feedburner & utm_medium=feed & utm_campaign=Feed%3\

A+wsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Health+Blog%29 & mod=smallbusiness>

Last week a federal judge allowed a suit over the health claims made by

Coca-Cola’s Vitaminwater to go forward. The company, if you recall, was sued

early last

year<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123203970090586133-search.html>by

the Center for Science in the Public Interest, among others, for what

the

plaintiffs called deceptive and unsubstantiated health claims on

Vitaminwater labels. (Here’s <http://www.cspinet.org/new/200901151.html> the

original CSPI press release announcing that suit.)

Coke had moved to dismiss the suit, but on Friday Judge Gleeson of the

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York permitted most of

the claims to go forward.

Here’s<http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/order_on_m-dismiss_doc_44.pdf>a link

to the judge’s decision. And

here’s <http://cspinet.org/new/201007231.html> CSPI’s latest press release.

Coca-Cola, in an emailed statement, says that “[V]itaminwater is a great

tasting, hydrating beverage with essential vitamins and water–and labels

clearly showing ingredients and calorie content. The court’s opinion was not

a decision on the merits, but simply a determination that the case can

proceed beyond the initial pleadings stage. We believe plaintiff’s claims

are without merit and will ultimately be rejected.”

In his 55-page opinion, the judge highlights the so-called jellybean rule,

which refers to the FDA regs that restrict food makers from, among other

things, adding vitamins or other nutrients to an otherwise unhealthful food

in order to make a health claim. (For example, a jelly-bean maker can’t

claim its products protect against heart disease.)

The rule, writes Gleeson, applies to health claims and to claims that “use

the word ‘healthy’ to suggest that a food because of its nutrient content

may help consumers maintain dietary practices.” That applies to

Vitaminwater, he writes, because the product includes at least two implied

nutrient claims that use the word healthy. One, on its “defense” flavor,

says:

--

Ortiz, MS, RD

*The FRUGAL Dietitian* <http://www.thefrugaldietitian.com>

<http://www.thefrugaldietitian.com>Check out my blog: mixture of deals and

nutrition

*

*