Coca-Cola Sued Again Over Minute Maid Fruit Punch ‘Natural Flavors’ Label

The Coca-Cola Co. was sued in Illinois federal court on Nov. 4, Law360 reported. The suit targets the “natural flavors” claim on Minute Maid Fruit Punch. It is at least the second proposed class action over that claim in less than a month. A California suit filed Oct. 11 names the ingredient at issue: citric acid.

TLDR

• The Illinois suit says the drink gets its tartness from a “synthetic, non-natural flavoring ingredient,” according to Law360.
• The California suit says the citric acid in the drink is industrially made and works as a flavoring.
• Federal rules list citric acid as generally recognized as safe (GRAS), and they allow it to come from yeast or mold fermentation.
• No response from Coca-Cola to either suit appeared in the reports reviewed as of Nov. 6.

Two Suits, One Label

The Illinois case was brought by a consumer as a putative class action, Law360 reported. It alleges Minute Maid Fruit Punch is falsely marketed as containing only natural flavors. The readable part of Law360’s report does not name the ingredient, and the complaint itself could not be reviewed.

The California case, Alarcon v. The Coca-Cola Co., was filed Oct. 11 by three plaintiffs, according to ClaimDepot and OpenClassActions, two class action news sites. It is in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It challenges the label’s “made with 100% natural flavors” claim. It seeks refunds, damages and an order requiring Coca-Cola to drop the claim and run corrective advertising. It proposes classes of buyers in California and New York.

What Is in the Carton

The ingredient list on a retailer listing for the 59-ounce carton reads: filtered water, high fructose corn syrup, and grape and pineapple juices from concentrate. Listed at less than 1% are pear and apple juices from concentrate, natural flavors, citric acid (provides tartness), sucralose and grape skin extract (for color). The listing also carries “No preservatives added.”

The California complaint points to that “provides tartness” wording to argue the citric acid is a flavoring, ClaimDepot reported. It says nearly all commercial citric acid comes from industrial fermentation of corn with a mutant strain of the black mold Aspergillus niger. It cites 2001 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning letters that told two food makers added citric acid barred natural claims for their foods.

What the Rules Say

FDA lists citric acid as GRAS, with no limit beyond good manufacturing practice. The rule notes that citric acid occurs naturally in plant and animal tissues. It allows citric acid recovered from lemon or pineapple juice, made by fermentation with Candida yeasts, or recovered from Aspergillus niger fermentation liquor.

The federal definition of “natural flavor” covers extracts and similar products whose flavoring constituents come from plant or animal sources, “or fermentation products thereof.” Their significant function in food must be flavoring rather than nutritional. The California suit turns on whether industrially fermented citric acid fits that definition.

Citric acid in the same drink has been challenged before. A 2024 suit in federal court in New York, Delvalle v. The Coca-Cola Co., argued that the “No Preservatives Added” claim is misleading because the drink contains citric acid.

Why It Matters

Minute Maid Fruit Punch has drawn at least three proposed class actions since 2024. Two of them name citric acid. The 2024 New York case called it a preservative. The 2026 California case calls it a synthetic flavoring. The label lists citric acid as providing tartness, and the retailer listing carries both “100% natural flavors” and “No preservatives added.” Truth in Advertising lists the 2024 case as pending. Neither 2026 case has been ruled on, and no class has been certified.

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Sources: Law360; ClaimDepot, on Alarcon v. The Coca-Cola Co.; OpenClassActions; Delvalle v. The Coca-Cola Co. complaint (2024); Truth in Advertising case tracker; Minute Maid Fruit Punch retailer listing; 21 CFR 184.1033 (citric acid); 21 CFR 101.22 (natural flavor).