“The plaintiff Rice, desiring a healthy, natural beverage, was led to purchase LaCroix sparkling water because of the claims made on its packaging, advertising and web site to be ‘innocent,’ ‘naturally essenced,’ ‘all natural,’ and ‘always 100% natural,’” the lawsuit obtained by CBS states. “LaCroix in fact contains ingredients that have been identified by the Food and Drug Administration as synthetic. These chemicals include limonene, which can cause kidney toxicity and tumors; linalool propionate, which is used to treat cancer; and linalool, which is used in cockroach insecticide.”
The lawsuit calls for LaCroix to stop falsely promoting its products as natural, and purchasers who thought the drinks were natural would be awarded damages if the suit is successful.
The brand is fighting back though. It denied the allegations in a statement released earlier this week:
“The United States Food and Drug Administration considers ‘natural’ on a food label to be truthful and non-misleading when 'nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added,’” it said.
The corporation also added that it “will vigorously seek actual and punitive damages among other remedies from everyone involved in the publication of these defamatory falsehoods.”
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