When it comes to food products being labeled as “natural”, consumers certainly hold companies liable if they suspect that the ingredients are controversial. Many products that are labeled as such in fact do contain ingredients, which are more than likely genetically modified, among others, and sometimes their companies find themselves in a lawsuit.
Last month, TSW reported on Campbell’s Soup Company being one of those “natural” deceivers and how the business has been facing a lawsuit. Florida resident Mark Krzykwa filed the lawsuit last year, which claims that Campbell’s knowingly mislabeled its soups containing genetically modified corn as “all natural”.
With attempts of dismantling the case against them, Campbell’s argued that it’s the job of the Food and Drug Administration to approve their soups anyway; therefor it’s the agency’s wrongdoing. US District Court Judge William P. Dimitrouleas didn’t agree during his ruling on May 24 and explained that the USDA might not have even been aware that the corn was GM. Regardless, it is not the job of the federal government to be involved with the food industry, much less labeling, anyway.
Now the most recent company to have wound itself into a legal battle is PepsiCo Inc. with probably its most healthy product of all, Naked Juice.
A lawsuit was filed against the company for labeling its juices as “natural” while the “added boost of vitamins” in some of its drinks may actually be synthetic ingredients. PepsiCo Inc. says it will not label its juices as “all natural” until there is more regulation and is even paying $9 million to settle the suit. http://thestateweekly.com
While government agencies like the FDA keep stalling on demanding rigorous scientific testing of numerous questionable ingredients, GMO foods, and the correct labeling of such foods, PepsiCo has recently agreed to settle out of court for $9 million over a class action lawsuit that claimed ‘natural’ and ‘non-GMO’ on their bottles was misleading since they are made with GMO ingredients, as well as synthetic and ‘unnatural’ items.
The plaintiffs in the suit claimed that PepsiCo gave the “the false impression that the beverages vitamin content is due to the nutritious fruits and juices, rather than the added synthetic compounds such as calcium pantothenate (synthetically produced from formaldehyde)” and “Fibersol-2 (a proprietary synthetic digestion-resistant fiber produced by Archer Daniels Midland and developed by a Japanese chemical company), fructooligosaccharides (a synthetic fiber and sweetener), and inulin (an artificial and invisible fiber added to foods to … increase fiber content without the typical fiber mouth-feel).”
The amount of synthetic additives in Naked juices are quite possibly more than anything ‘natural’ at all. It certainly isn’t a ‘100% juice” smoothie as the labeling on the bottle currently states. Naked juices contain up to 11 different chemicals including: niacinamide, d-alpha tocopherol acetate, cyanocobalamin, and pyridoxine hydrochloride, just to name a few.
And as you may have expected, of course Pepsi Co donated more than $2.5 million dollars to help defeat Proposition 37 in California that would have required companies like Pepsi to label all products that contain GMOs in any form. The ‘Right to Know” ballot was defeated due to special interest groups like Syngenta, Dow, Monsanto, Pepsi Co, and others who helped finance its demise.
If you would like to avoid PepsiCo altogether since they are actively trying to push GMO foods and chemical laden drinks on the public while trying to pass them off as ‘health’ food, you might have a hard time ignoring the company – they are in over 200 countries and make everything from Pepsi Cola to Frito Lay Chips, Tropicana Juices, Quaker Oates and Gatorade. But learn of what they create, and you can steer clear.
Source: http://www.nationofchange.org
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