On Oct. 1, 2018, Beaumont Costale, a Chicago law firm, filed a class action lawsuit against the parent company of La Croix sparkling water, National Beverage Corporation, on behalf of Lenora Rice. Shocking many devout La Croix drinkers, Beaumont Costale says that La Croix’s “100% Natural” claim is misleading.
The official complaint from Beaumont states that “La Croix contains, among other things: ethyl butanoate, limonene, linalool, and linalool propionate.” Beaumont tells us that Linalool is an ingredient in cockroach insecticide, and limonene causes kidney toxicity and tumors. To them, La Croix has been knowingly including these ingredients while lying about its contents to “induce consumers into buying La Croix products.”
However, La Croix and its parent company National Beverage Corp. claim otherwise. Just hours after the complaint was filed, National Beverage Corp. released a statement claiming, “Natural flavors in La Croix are derived from the natural essence oils from the named fruit used in each of the flavors. There are no sugars or artificial ingredients contained in, nor added to, those extracted flavors.”
La Croix does not claim that these ingredients are not in their water, but rather that they are completely natural and not harmful. For instance, Limonene can be found on the peels of citrus fruits like oranges. La Croix plans to “vigorously seek actual and punitive damages” against these “defamatory falsehoods.”
It would not be until a week after the lawsuit was filed that at least one of these claims would be backed with evidence. In a press release, La Croix claimed that an independent laboratory, under the standards of the International Standards Organization, tested supplied ingredients to confirm that the ingredients came from all natural sources and not synthetic ones. In the same press release, La Croix gives a thank you to everyone who supported them.
But the claims have not come without damages. La Croix has reported hundreds of millions of dollars in investor losses, and their parent company’s stock, FIZZ, has dropped more than 25 points since the claim was filed. Even if they win the lawsuit, it is possible that this drop could stay.
La Croix still faces a hearing on Jan. 29, 2019. Whether or not any new evidence will come up is yet to be seen. While La Croix continues to label itself as natural, only the complete turnout of this lawsuit will be truly able to tell if it really is.