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Coca-Cola Company admits in court that vitaminwater is not a healthy beverage. Millions of consumers of Coca-Cola's heavily marketed vitaminwater brand drink are now dealing with the fact that despite numerous advertising claims to the contrary, the reality about the drink may be that it is little more than sugar-water fortified with a few vitamins.
The revelation came in United States District Judge John Gleeson's 55 page ruling allowing a lawsuit to proceed against the makers of vitaminwater for making unwarranted health claims and for perhaps violating FDA food fortification and product naming guidelines.
"At oral argument defendants (Coca-Cola) suggested that no consumer could reasonably be
misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage." -- from Federal Judge John Gleeson's 55 page ruling
Not surprisingly, Coca-Cola has aggressively tried to have the lawsuit dismissed against their 4.2 billion dollar brand that they acquired in 2007 from Glaceau (aka Energy Brands Inc.). Glaceau is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lawsuit was brought by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
The suit by CSPI alleges that vitaminwater uses "deceptive and unsubstantiated claims" on labeling and advertising. The also claim that the name vitaminwater may give the indication that vitamins and water are the only ingredients. And they pointed out that a bottle of vitaminwater contains 33 grams of sugar, making the drink a typical soft drink and not a healthy alternative.
More than one third of adults in the United States are now considered to be medically obese, and another third are overweight. Many experts blame added sugars as a main culprit for the growing trend of adult and childhood obesity in America. Some claim that false health claims may lead those with weight problems to consume products like vitaminwater that may actually worsen the problem. The label on vitaminwater says it contains 13 grams of sugar per serving, but that the bottle contains 2.5 servings. It tells the consumer how many vitamins they are getting by drinking the whole bottle but they have to use some math skills to determine how many grams of sugar are in the bottle.
Surprisingly, the lawyers for Coca-Cola chose not to attack the lawsuit on factual grounds but instead chose to have the suit dismissed on legal technicalities. To this, the judge wrote in his ruling, "Accordingly, I must accept the factual allegations in the complaint as true."
As to Coca-Cola's claims that "no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage" -- many critics are asking how many tens of millions of dollars did Coke spend trying to mislead those consumers if they could not reasonably be misled? Or another question making the rounds is this: Is it ok for product manufacturers to lie about their products if they claim that nobody believed their lies?
NOTE: The spelling as one word and non-capitalization of the name "vitaminwater" was an issue in the legal document released by Judge Gleeson. Coca-Cola, the owners of the "vitaminwater" name and brand prefer it be used as a single word name with all lower case letters.
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Comments
Very nice article! With all of the SUGAR in this drink, we know it is not so good for you! I am an examiner as well and ejoyed this
Any lawyer could have explained to you that it is not "surprising" that coca cola tried to have the suit dismissed on technical grounds at this stage of the proceedings. Rather than "surprising, it is the way lawsuits operate: the defenadant typically files a motion to dismiss in order to argue that, even taking as true all the facts alleged, the suit still does not state a legitimate legal claim. Assuming this suit does not settle, both parties will have an opportunity to argue the substantive merits.
Dear Eric, thank you for taking time to comment.
While it is not surprising that defense counsel for Coca-Cola tried to have the suit dismissed on various procedural grounds, it is surprising that they did not challenge CSPI's claims
themselves. Instead, they chose the unexpected path of admitting that vitaminwater is not a healthy product and said that they should not be held accountable for their false advertising
and claims because no one would have believed them anyway.
One doesn't need to be a lawyer to realize this was risky move by the lawyers for Coca-Cola. Even if they succeed in drowning the CSPI legal team in motions, having the suit dismissed, or
settling the suit of out of court, the statement is now public record and runs completely counter to the carefully crafted advertising that surrounds vitaminwater.
Only time will tell on this one.
check out this book about coca cola at www.jeffreywrightbook.com
The thing is, sugar by itself is not bad for you. if you are an endurance athlete, for example, you need sugar if you want to make it through your daily 10k run or whatever it is that you do. If you wash down your burger and fries with vitamin water and sit on your ass all day, however, yeah, that's probably pretty bad. the point is, work out more and drink whatever you want.
Dear Dyre, thank for taking time to comment.
Actually, processed sugar offers nothing to the body but empty calories. And even worse are artificial sugars like high fructose corn syrup and worse still are most artificial sweeteners. Many of these screw up the metabolism and stimulate hunger.
The best source of energy for your body is natural, unprocessed, food which is free of chemical preservatives and added sugar. The best drink for your body has always been pure water free of impurities and added chemicals like chlorine and fluoride.
You are correct that most people should work out more since our American lifestyle is now pretty sedentary. People used to have to expend much more physical effort in their day to day lives. Nowadays we have to make the time and effort to work out.
Be in good health.
I guess all fruit juices are bad for ya too.
We need sugar. We need water. We need vitamins. As long as you drink it it moderation, it is good for you.
i worked for vitaminwater when it was owned by glaceau and it is healthier for you than most other drinks. i mean many people drink sodas all day long and vitaminwater would be much better than soda. everyone who thinks it is so unhealthy offer some ideas of other drinks to drink on a hot summer day why playing sports. thank you for reading!
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