Deception suspected

No mango in mango soda: lawsuit against Starbucks

(Bild: AFP/Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

In the USA, the Starbucks coffee house chain is facing lawsuits from consumers because some of its fruit drinks do not contain the main ingredient that gives them their name. On Monday, US District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan rejected the company's request to dismiss the majority of a class action lawsuit. After all, many consumers would expect their drinks to actually contain the fruit mentioned in their name.

Among other things, customers had complained that there was no mango in Starbucks Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade and no passionfruit in Pineapple Passionfruit Lemonade. Plaintiffs Joan Kominis of Astoria, New York, and Jason McAllister of Fairfield, California, said the main ingredients were water, grape juice concentrate and sugar. The names were misleading and led to inflated prices. This violated consumer protection laws in their states.

The company argues: Customers could ask employees
Starbucks argued that the product names describe the taste of the drinks and not their ingredients. The flavors are advertised on the beverage cards. Nor do normal customers have to be confused, because employees can help to clear up any confusion if consumers have questions.

Other products do contain what they say they do
However, Judge Cronan said that unlike the term "vanilla", which is the subject of many lawsuits, there was nothing to suggest that "mango" or "passion fruit" were terms that would normally be understood as merely designating a flavor without actually containing the ingredient. Furthermore, there could very well be confusion because other Starbucks products actually contain the ingredients mentioned in their names. For example, Ice Matcha Tea Latte contains matcha and Honey Citrus Mint Tea contains honey and mint.

The lawsuit is seeking damages of at least five million dollars (4.69 million euros). Lawyer Robert Abiri said he was looking forward to representing the group of plaintiffs.