(Photo: SunnyD Vodka Seltzer)
A customer filed a class action lawsuit against Sunny Delight Beverage Co. over its SunnyD Vodka Seltzer advertising that it contains zero grams of sugar. The plaintiff Laura Willis Albrigo claims this advertisem*nt is “literally false” and the vodka seltzer contains at least 2 grams of sugar. The lawsuit was filed with the United States District Court in the Southern District of California last week.
The plaintiff said she purchased SunnyD Vodka Seltzer on several occupations from Vons and BevMo in San Diego. Albrigo was attracted to the claims of 0g Sugar indicated on the canned alcoholic beverage label.
“When purchasing the Seltzer, Plaintiff was looking for an alcohol seltzer that had nosugar, she read and relied on the Defendant’s labeling claim that the Seltzer contained ‘0gSUGAR,’ and reasonably believed the Seltzer was totally free from sugar, i.e., contained nosugar at all,” the court filing reads.
However, Albrigo calculated that, out of the total 95 calories displayed on the label, 87 calories come from alcohol which leaves 8 calories arguably resulting from the use of fruit juice. The plaintiff said the 8 calories translates to 2g of sugar.
“Plaintiff acted reasonably in relying on the label claim, which Defendant intentionally placed on the Seltzer’s packaging intending to induce average consumers into purchasing the product,” argued the lawsuit. “Plaintiff would not have purchased the Seltzer, or would not have been willing to pay as much for it, if she knew the ‘0g SUGAR’ labeling claim was false and that the Seltzer, in fact, contained sugar.”
Many hard seltzer brands have claims of “no sugar added” but this does not necessarily translate to 0g of sugar in the final product. Alcohols like vodka do contain calories but the calories are not from sugar since fermentation and distillation removes excess sugars.
Sunny Delight will likely file for the case to be dismissed but the lawsuit is in its early stages.
The clarity of alcohol labels often leaves a lot to be desired. In 2022, the US Treasury Department through the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) committed to making changes to alcohol labeling rules such as standardized alcohol content, calorie and allergen labeling on all beer, wine and distilled products. However, there isn’t a clear timeline as to when new rules will be put into place.
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