After a class action lawsuit filed against Pepsi's Naked Juice division cost the company $9 million to settle earlier this month, the popular fresh juice brand will lose the "all-natural" claim on all of its product packaging, reports Beverage Daily.
While the brand still denies the allegations that Naked Juice products aren't natural, representatives for Pepsi told Beverage Daily the company would remove the claim from the popular juice and smoothies until the claims can be substantiated.
Trouble began for Naked Juice when allegations arose over the use of several claims including '100% Juice', 'All Natural', 'All Natural Fruit' and 'Non-GMO' on products that contained a synthetic product called Fibersol-2 as well as inulin, fructooligosaccharides, and genetically modified soy. The class-action suit was filed in June 2012, with complaints going as far back as October 2011.
Read more about genetically modified foods
Naked Juice says it will hire the lab Eurofins to help substantiate the non-GMO claim against a standard "at least as strict as 2003 EU standards allowing 0.9% GMO content per ingredient," reports Beverage Daily.
Currently, the U.S. does not regulate use of the term 'natural' and Naked Juice is not the first company to face legal action over misleading use of the claim on products that contain genetically modified or synthetic ingredients.
The World Health Organization has defined genetically modified ingredients as seeds or foods that are not naturally occurring. That distinction has fueled a number of lawsuits and consumer and advocacy group backlash to major food companies including Kraft, Tropicana, Kellogg's, Frito Lay's and Campbell's.
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