Lawsuit Investigation: Did You Buy Products Falsely Advertised as Having ‘No Artificial Flavors’?
Last Updated on June 4, 2024
At A Glance
- This Alert Affects:
- Individuals who purchased any of the products listed on this page.
- What’s Going On?
- Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are investigating whether certain food and supplement products may contain an artificial flavoring agent despite being labeled as flavored with natural ingredients. If so, it’s possible that they may be able to file class action lawsuits on behalf of buyers.
- What Products Are Under Investigation?
- GoodPop Freezer Pops; Vitafusion Fiber Well Gummies; Scrummy Gummy Bears; Proti Diet Cool Raspberry Drink Liquid Concentrate; and Ester-C Effervescent Vitamin C Packets, Natural Orange Flavor.
- How Could a Lawsuit Help?
- If successful, class action lawsuits could help consumers get back some of the money they spent on their purchases. They could also potentially force the companies to change how their products are labeled.
- What You Can Do
- If you’ve bought any of the products listed below, fill out the form on this page to help the investigation.
Attorneys working with ClassAction.org have reason to believe that certain supplements and foods may be falsely advertised as “naturally flavored” or containing “no artificial flavors.”
Specifically, the attorneys believe the following products may have their tastes derived from, at least in part, a synthetic ingredient known as DL-malic acid and therefore may be mislabeled:
- GoodPop Freezer Pops;
- Vitafusion Fiber Well Gummies;
- Scrummy Gummy Bears;
- Proti Diet Cool Raspberry Drink Liquid Concentrate; and
- Ester-C Effervescent Vitamin C Packets, Natural Orange Flavor.
They’re now looking into whether class action lawsuits can be filed against the manufacturers over how they advertised the items to consumers.
Did you buy any of the products listed above? If so, attorneys want to hear from you as part of their investigation. Fill out the form on this page to get in touch. You may be able to help get a class action lawsuit started.
What Is Malic Acid, Exactly?
In its natural form, malic acid is an organic compound that can be sourced from fruits like apples and cherries. Although the products at issue include “malic acid” on their ingredient lists, the attorneys suspect that the items may actually be made with DL-malic acid, an artificial version of the ingredient manufactured from petroleum products.
DL-malic—which federal regulations explicitly state “does not occur naturally”—is commonly included in mass-produced food products to simulate or enhance the sweet, sour and tart taste of fruit flavors.
The attorneys believe that the manufacturers’ suspected use of DL-malic acid makes their “naturally flavored” and “no artificial flavors” product labels misleading and out of line with federal and identical state regulations. These laws mandate that a food product must disclose on its front label if it contains “any artificial flavor which simulates, resembles or reinforces the characterizing flavor.”
How Could Class Action Lawsuits Help?
Class action lawsuits could help customers get back some of the money they spent on supplements or foods that may have been misrepresented as “naturally flavored” or made with “no artificial flavors.” Lawsuits could also force the companies to relabel their products and change any claims found to be false.
If you bought any of the products listed above, fill out the form on this page.
After you get in touch, an attorney or legal representative may reach out to you directly to ask you some questions and explain how you may be able to help start a class action lawsuit. It costs nothing to get in touch, and you’re not obligated to take legal action if you don’t want to.
Before commenting, please review our comment policy.