According to BevNet, Florida-based National Beverage Corporation, makers of LaCroix, is fighting back against a class action lawsuit alleging that that the company uses synthetic ingredients in its sparkling water products, including one found in cockroach insecticide.
The suit, filed by attorneys from Beaumont Costales in Cook County, IL on behalf of lead plaintiff Lenora Rice and all those similarly injured, claims that National Beverage’s use of “all natural” and “100% natural” on its products is intentionally misleading to consumers because of the presence of synthetic chemical ingredients. According to a press release issued by the plaintiff’s attorneys, “testing reveals that LaCroix contains a number of artificial ingredients, including limonene, which can “cause kidney toxicity and tumors”; linalool propionate, “which is used to treat cancer”; and linalool, which is “used in cockroach insecticide.”
In a press release issued Oct. 1, National Beverage denied the charges.
“Natural flavors in LaCroix are derived from the natural essence oils from the named fruit used in each of the flavors,” read the statement. “All essences contained in LaCroix are certified by our suppliers to be 100% natural.”
A second release from National Beverage on Oct. 5 stated that the company “affirms that LaCroix sparkling waters are comprised of natural ingredients.” It noted that the allegations have “no merit and will be proven false in short order.”
Beaumont Costales did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), use of the term “natural” on food products is considered “to mean that nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food.” “Natural” ingredients must be derived from a plant or animal source, but flavors can contain synthetic preservatives.
A recent article published by Popular Science noted that limonene, linalool pripionate and linalool are all “naturally occurring” ingredients that are used to add flavor to various types of food and beverage products. However, the FDA also characterizes these as “synthetic flavoring substances” that are generally recognized as safe. Roger Clemens, an expert in food and regulatory science at the University of Southern California, notes in the story that whether an ingredient is considered “synthetic” or “natural” is unrelated to its “safety as assessed by experts in nutrition, food science, food toxicology, and medicine.”
A petition launched in the wake of the lawsuit urging National Beverage to “come clean about what exactly is in LaCroix” had collected over 6,000 signatures as of the afternoon of Oct. 11.
According to BevNet, Florida-based National Beverage Corporation, makers of LaCroix, is fighting back against a class action lawsuit
alleging that that the company uses synthetic ingredients in its sparkling water products, including one found in cockroach insecticide.
The suit, filed by attorneys from Beaumont Costales in Cook County, IL on behalf of lead plaintiff Lenora Rice and all those similarly injured, claims that National Beverage’s use of “all natural” and “100% natural” on its products is intentionally misleading to consumers because of the presence of synthetic chemical ingredients. According to a press release issued by the plaintiff’s attorneys, “testing reveals that LaCroix contains a number of artificial ingredients, including limonene, which can “cause kidney toxicity and tumors”; linalool propionate, “which is used to treat cancer”; and linalool, which is “used in cockroach insecticide.”
In a
press release issued Oct. 1, National Beverage denied the charges.
“Natural flavors in LaCroix are derived from the natural essence oils from the named fruit used in each of the flavors,” read the statement. “All essences contained in LaCroix are certified by our suppliers to be 100% natural.”
A second release from National Beverage on Oct. 5 stated that the company “affirms that LaCroix sparkling waters are comprised of natural ingredients.” It noted that the allegations have “no merit and will be proven false in short order.”
Beaumont Costales did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), use of the term “natural” on food products is considered “to mean that nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food.” “Natural” ingredients must be derived from a plant or animal source, but flavors can contain synthetic preservatives.
A recent article published by Popular Science noted that limonene, linalool pripionate and linalool are all “naturally occurring” ingredients that are used to add flavor to various types of food and beverage products. However, the FDA also characterizes these as “synthetic flavoring substances” that are generally recognized as safe. Roger Clemens, an expert in food and regulatory science at the University of Southern California, notes in the story that whether an ingredient is considered “synthetic” or “natural” is unrelated to its “safety as assessed by experts in nutrition, food science, food toxicology, and medicine.”
A petition launched in the wake of the lawsuit urging National Beverage to “come clean about what exactly is in LaCroix” had collected over 6,000 signatures as of the afternoon of Oct. 11.
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