Judge Moves vitaminwater Lawsuit Forward

A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that the lawsuit filed against Coca Cola Company's vitaminwater by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) can move forward. Coke had sought to have the suit thrown out. The suit alleges that vitaminwater makes deceptive health claims. Granted this is only a ruling that the suit can continue, but vitaminwater clearly lost this round.

And, the judge's 55-page ruling is worth looking at (here is a link to that ruling on CSPI's website). In particular, look at page 10 of the ruling. It lists the 12 statements from vitaminwater labels that CSPI alleges are misleading. The judge dismissed numbers 9, 10 and 11, but let the rest stand, including the allegation that the name "vitaminwater" itself is deceptive. Ouch.

One of the arguments used by vitaminwater, according to consumerist.com, is that some of the claims are simply puffery. Hmmmm. I'm not sure that helps consumer trust in the brand or category.

Remember, it was only two years ago that Coca Cola bought Glaceau and its flagship vitaminwater brand for more than $4 billion.

This case also has huge implications for the growing functional/enhanced beverage category, a category that is already getting its share of attention from FDA. In fact, there are quite a few beverages (or dietary supplements that are in liquid form) that make far more aggressive claims than vitaminwater.

Here is the ABC News video coverage (click here)

Keep an eye on this story.