LifeAid Drinks, Powder Sticks Not as Naturally Flavored as Advertised, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action claims LifeAid Beverage LLC has misled consumers by advertising its FITAID, FOCUSAID, IMMUNITYAID and PARTYAID dietary supplements as naturally flavored.

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The 23-page lawsuit says that front-label statements and images of fruits on the FITAID and FOCUSAID drinks indicate that the products are “Naturally Flavored,” and the packaging of FITAID, FOCUSAID, IMMUNITYAID and PARTYAID powder sticks similarly purports that each item contains “No Artificial Flavors” and is “Made Only With the Good Stuff.” The suit claims that despite these representations, LifeAid’s products in fact contain DL malic acid, an artificial flavoring derived from petrochemicals.

Although there is a natural variation of malic acid, the type used by LifeAid to flavor its supplements is manufactured in petrochemical facilities and produced from benzene or butane through numerous chemical reactions, the case shares. According to the complaint, LifeAid’s representations of the supplements are misleading because DL malic acid is not derived from any natural source and, thus, is not considered a “natural flavor.”

By law, if a food item’s characterizing flavor is not produced by the named ingredient but is instead created by an artificial additive, the product’s packaging must conspicuously state that it is “artificially flavored,” the filing explains.

The lawsuit also takes issue with the products’ apparently misleading ingredients lists, which indicate only the presence of “malic acid,” the substance’s generic name.

As the suit tells it, consumers are increasingly interested in “clean” food products—that is, items that are advertised as unprocessed, all-natural or free of artificial additives or preservatives. 

The plaintiff, a San Diego resident, bought FITAID, FOCUSAID, IMMUNITYAID and PARTYAID powder sticks from LifeAid’s website and a multi-pack of FITAID and FOCUSAID drinks from Amazon in November and December of last year, the case says. The man would not have paid as much for the products, or purchased them at all, had he known that they in fact contained the synthetic flavoring DL malic acid, the complaint contends.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who purchased any of the LifeAid products listed on this page at any time since May 8, 2019.

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