Lawsuit: Neurobrands Misleadingly Claims Beverages are Flavored with Only Natural Ingredients

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Neurobrands, LLC is the defendant in a proposed class action that takes issue with the company’s alleged misbranding of its beverage products. According to the complaint, the defendant’s neuroSONIC Energy Refreshed superfruit infusion, neuroBLISS white raspberry, and neuroPROTEIN watermelon mint beverages are positioned as being flavored with only natural ingredients, a claim the lawsuit alleges is false.

“Specifically, the Products are labeled as if they are flavored only with natural ingredients when they in fact contain an undisclosed artificial flavor, malic acid, in violation of state and federal law,” the suit states.

Neurobrands’ packaging, labeling and advertising of the aforementioned products amount to a scheme intended to “give consumers the impression that they are buying a premium, all-natural product with only natural flavoring ingredients,” the lawsuit claims. All of the defendant’s products, the suit goes on, contain a synthetic flavoring agent called malic acid, which the complaint describes as used frequently to add a tangy, fresh fruit taste to processed foods. Moreover, the suit charges the defendant’s inclusion of malic acid in the list of ingredients for its beverage products is incomplete. From the suit: 

“There is a different, naturally-occurring form of malic acid found in some fruits and vegetables. [The defendant] does not use this type of malic acid; it instead adds a synthetic industrial chemical called d-1 malic acid, in the form of a racemic mixture of d- and 1-isomers, to flavor the Products and make them taste like fresh fruit.

This type of 'malic acid' is not naturally-occurring but is in fact manufactured in petrochemical plants from benzene or butane – components of gasoline and lighter fluid, respectively – through a series of chemical reactions, some of which involve highly toxic chemical precursors and byproducts.”