The vitamin water lawsuit is quite ridiculous and utterly ludicrous lawsuit. It is also an attempt to make money through the lawsuits. This is simply not about protecting the general public’s interest in good health. Consumers can easily see the nutritional facts panels on each bottle of ice cream, milk, and sherbet au lait, which clearly show what exactly is in the product and what is not. (The fact that it has the word “calcium” in the nutrition information panel is irrelevant to what it does for your body).
If a soft drink company was purposely trying to poison people with lead in their drinks, then they could easily do this, but it is unlikely they would go this far. Additionally, it is nearly impossible to find a single consumer group that has done this so far. This is also not about protecting public health. If a soft drink company sold their product to an individual who was abusing an addictive substance such as cocaine, the state would go after them, not the company.
So, now we have this ridiculous lawsuit which purports to be about protecting public health. The plaintiff’s lawyer states on their website that the plaintiffs are alleging that the defendants knew or should have known that their products contained trace amounts of lead, yet they knowingly sold them to know that this was hazardous. The plaintiffs are asking for a jury award of approximately $100 million dollars. The federal court has already ruled that the advertising claims in the soft drink were not valid because the product was not dangerous. The plaintiff’s lawyer is merely seeking damages to cover their attorney expenses.
Another plaintiff in a similar case, this time out of the state of California, is seeking monetary damages that are less than the one they are owed based on the safe levels of lead found in coca-cola. The plaintiffs in this case are attempting to claim compensation for things that the soft drink company knew was harmful but did not tell consumers. The federal judge has already ordered the soft drink corporation to pay a $6.75 million dollar settlement to a woman who died from drinking a certain amount of coca-cola. The company was also ordered to cover her medical expenses and lost wages.
In a case that is currently before the federal court in South Africa, a lawyer is challenging the fact that a leading brand of energy drinks, Fanta, is actually contaminated with lead. The lawsuit was filed by an organization called “Citizens for Public Health”. The group is funded through the World Wide Fund for Medical Research (WHO). The lawyer is seeking compensation for the effect that the lead has had on the life of his client. His client was an active member of the road racing circuit in south Africa and he was leading a group when he was contaminated with lead.
The judge has yet to rule on the lawsuit regarding coca-cola and energy drinks. This particular case is one of the first to receive attention from the world of business practices and the court has set a precedent for other similar situations. The ruling will have a significant impact on the way that soft drink manufacturers market their products and their business practices. If the ruling is in favor of the plaintiff, the beverage industry will likely have to change its business practices to ensure that no further lawsuits similar to this occur.
