Coca-Cola VitaminWater class action to go to mediation

 CSPI litigation director Stephen Gardner said ““Mediation is fairly common in complex cases, including class actions. A mediator is usually a paid disinterested party who attempts to mediate a settlement. On a case like this, mediation is likely to last a day.”

A class action lawsuit brought against Coca-Cola by advocacy group The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) over Coke’s VitaminWater range is set to go to mediation, FoodNavigator-USA has learned.

 Asked whether this meant Coca-Cola was likely to settle, CSPI litigation director Stephen Gardner told FoodNavigator-USA.com: “There is no predicting whether it will result in a settlement.”He added: “We’ve done some paper discovery, but no depositions [of Coca-Cola executives] yet. However, the real development is that the case is going to mediation in July. Until that is concluded, the discovery process is largely on hold.”He added: “Mediation is fairly common in complex cases, including class actions. A mediator is usually a paid disinterested party who attempts to mediate a settlement. On a case like this, mediation is likely to last a day.”

Name could reinforce belief that product contains only water and vitamins

The lawsuit , which was filed in 2009 and brought together class actions in New Jersey, New York and California, alleged that Coca-Cola had misled consumers over the health benefits of VitaminWater.Coca-Cola immediately filed a motion to dismiss the suit, which was rejected last summer. Federal judge John Gleeson of the US District Court in Brooklyn also rejected Coca-Cola’s argument that by listing the sugar content of VitaminWater in the nutrition panel it could not be accused of misleading consumers: “The fact that the actual sugar content of VitaminWater was accurately stated in a Food and Drug Administration-mandated label on the product does not eliminate the possibility that reasonable consumers may be misled.” Meanwhile, the description of the product as a ‘vitamin-enhanced water beverage’ and the phrases ‘vitamins + water = all you need’ also had “the potential to reinforce a consumer’s mistaken belief that the product is comprised of only vitamins and water,” added Gleeson. Jelly bean rule He also found that Coca-Cola’s use of health claims and the word ‘healthy’ violated FDA regulations on vitamin-fortified foods (the so-called ‘jelly bean rule’ rule that prohibits companies from making health claims on foods that only meet various nutrient thresholds via fortification).

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Legislation/Coca-Cola-VitaminWater-class-action-to-go-to-mediation