FDA Could Stomp Snapple If Corn Syrup Isn't Really the "Best Stuff on Earth"

Snapple has for years advertised itself as "all-natural" and "made from the best stuff on earth" but that may soon come to an end: A federal judge has asked the FDA to define whether high-fructose corn syrup -- which Snapple is made from -- is really "all natural".

Coupled with a Vitaminwater case alleging the drink should really be called SugarWater and a Ben & Jerry's case alleging its "all-natural" ice creams are made with all-artificial ingredients, these issues are a signal to managers that consumers -- or at least their lawyers -- do not like being misled about health claims in food and drink advertising.

The Snapple case also highlights the Dr Pepper Snapple Group's other set of not-well-publicized secrets: that some of its drinks, such as Acai Blackberry Juice, contain neither acai berry juice nor blackberry juice.

The ruling -- which also mentions that a similar case in a different court alleges that Arizona Iced Tea's marketing is misleading because it asserts the product is "100% Natural" -- asks the FDA to define "all natural" as it relates to high-fructose corn syrup within six months. The cases are stayed until that time. For food advertisers, the FDA's decision will be huge. (The corn-syrup-industrial complex has been fighting this issue for years.) The FDA's decision will interpret the Wiley Act, which essentially requires that "a
[food] contents statement, if used, must be truthful."

The Snapple case has already survived an appeal and a motion to dismiss, but not everything is going consumers' way. A New York federal court, in a different Snapple case, denied class action status to the plaintiffs on the grounds that they couldn't show that people paid a premium for an "all natural" drink.

If the FDA rules that HFCF is not natural it could decimate Snapple's advertising and require its ad agency, Deutsch, to completely rethink its campaign. Snapple has for years relied on the "all natural" and "made from the best stuff on earth" positionings, as these commercials (below) show.

Related:

• Ben & Jerry's Artificial Ingredients: Why "Natural" Is Still the Most Meaningless Word in the Supermarket
• Judge Says Vitaminwater Might Be Fattening: Why Doesn't Coke Understand the "Jelly Bean Rule"?