A class action complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on December 28, 2022 against The Coca-Cola Company, claiming that the major beverage producer’s Simply Orange juice brand contains toxic levels of per- and polyfluorinated substances, or PFAs.
Comprised of a class of about 12,000 chemicals, that are commonly known as “forever chemicals” because of their tendency to accumulate in the human body without breaking down, PFAs are found in a wide range of consumer products and have been linked to a number of health concerns including liver and kidney disease, autoimmune issues and cancer.
The plaintiff, Joseph Lurenz, alleges in his complaint that “in order to capitalize on (this) consumer demand, Simply Orange juice beverages are aggressively marketed to health-focused consumers with the products’ pervasive ‘all natural’ representations prominently displayed across the products’ packaging” despite containing synthetic chemicals that are, by definition, not natural.
Mr. Lurenz further claims that the company’s advertising would lead the average consumer “to believe that additional care has been taken to remove any incidental chemicals or impurities.” However, to the contrary, independent testing conducted by the Plaintiff revealed the company’s Simply Tropical juice to contain PFOA and PFOs at levels more than 100 times above the EPA’s recommended levels.
The complaint is seeking statutory and actual damages, civil penalties and punitive damages as permitted by law and is pending before U.S. District Judge Nelson Stephen Roman.
