PepsiCo will revise the bottle labels on its Naked Juice brand following a lawsuit claiming that the labels misled consumers about the product’s real ingredients.
Naked Juice has agreed to update the labels within eight months for some disputed flavors like “Kale Blazer,” which the plaintiffs said used misleading imagery and did not accurately convey the juice’s main ingredient — orange juice, according to Consumerist.
PepsiCo and Naked Juice explicitly denied the allegations, but will proceed with a number of label changes, according to the case’s settlement agreement. In addition to using more accurate imagery and listing the drink’s ingredients in order of prominence, revisions include clear text that states whether the product is a “Fruit Juice,” “Fruit & Veggie Juice,” or a smoothie and reduced text font for the bottles’ “100% Juice” and “No Sugar Added” claims. Naked Juice will also have to include an asterisked statement saying that the product is “not a low-calorie food.”
“We’re pleased to have reached this agreement. Our number one priority is always the consumer who buys our Naked juices and smoothies,” Nora Quartaro, a spokesperson for PepsiCo, told Coins2Day in an emailed statement. “When [the Center for Science in the Public Interest] said our labels were confusing, we listened to what they had to say out of concern for our consumers.”
Quartaro said that the ingredients in all Naked Juice drinks will remain the same — only the labels will change.
“Now we can put the matter behind us and focus on what we do best: making great tasting Naked juices and smoothies.” She added.
The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 4 by Dina Lipkind, Lyle Takeshita and Chad Fenwick and was settled on Feb. 14.
