Animal Juiced Aminos Falsely Touted as Containing Zero Calories, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action claims that Animal Juiced Aminos is represented as a zero-calorie product even though each variety of the supplement contains anywhere from 45 to 90 calories per serving.

The 26-page complaint alleges defendant Universal Protein Supplements Corporation has intentionally deceived consumers by omitting the true calorie content from the nutritional powder’s packaging and advertising.

The case contends that the omission of the product’s calorie content, coupled with the representations that Animal Juiced Aminos is designed to help weight loss and build muscle, “clearly implies” that the “misbranded” supplement contains no calories. The filing says that although Universal Protein Supplements Corporation intended to “create a competitive advantage” by mislabeling Animal Juiced Aminos as a zero-calorie supplement, it is consumers who “ultimately suffer by this deviant and non-compliant behavior.”

“Defendant’s sale of the Product is deceptive to reasonable consumers, including [the plaintiff] who, in consideration of their health and fitness goals, are in the market for 0 Calorie products, because there is no practical way for them to know, prior to purchase and consumption, that the Product is laden with Calories despite being marketed as a Calories-free, weight-loss, and dietary supplement,” the complaint reads.

According to the case, independent laboratory testing performed in accordance with five relevant, FDA-regulated methods for calculating calorie content has revealed that Animal Juiced Aminos nutritional powder—which comes in grape, orange, peach mango and strawberry limeade flavors—contains a range of between 45 and 90 calories per serving, depending on the formulation and use guidance.

The lawsuit notes that under FDA regulations, the calories in a food may not exceed 20 percent more than the amount stated on the product’s label. Moreover, the FDA requires calories and calorie-containing nutrients to be disclosed on a product’s nutrition facts and supplement facts panel if they are present in “significant amounts,” the suit says.

Universal Protein Supplements Corporation has nevertheless omitted the calorie content from the labels of its Animal Juiced Aminos product line, “despite knowing the inaccuracy of such representations,” the lawsuit alleges. According to the case, the absence of a calorie content declaration on the product’s label falsely implies to consumers that the calorie content is “an irrelevant nutritional factor.”

“Defendant chose, and continues to choose, financial gain at the expense of consumers by concealing and omitting disclosure of this critical misrepresentation to consumers who, like Plaintiff, purchased the Product based specifically upon this ‘0 Calories’ representation, for purposes of weight loss and control including to build muscle and burn fat,” the complaint contends.

The plaintiff looks to represent anyone who purchased the Animal Juiced Aminos product in the U.S. at any time within the past four years and through the present.

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