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A woman in California has brought a class action lawsuit against Jelly Belly saying their packaging didn’t state that the jelly beans contained sugar.
Jessica Gomez told court that she had bought a packet of Jelly Belly’s Sports Beans, which are advertised as containing carbohydrates, electrolytes and vitamins. In the list of ingredients sugar isn’t explicitly listed, however instead it is listed as ‘evaporated cane juice’.
Gomez claims that the ‘fancy wording’ was designed to mislead her into thinking there wasn’t sugar in the beans, and compel her to buy them, reports Fox News.
In their defense, Jelly Belly said that the sugar content of the product is listed in the nutritional information table next to the ingredients.
“No reasonable consumer could have been deceived by Sport Beans’ labeling – Gomez could not have seen ‘evaporated cane juice’ without also seeing the product’s sugar content on its Nutrition Facts panel.”
While the USA Federal Food and Drug Administration appears to be siding with Gomez on the principle that ‘juice’ should only refer to the liquid that comes from a fruit or vegetable. In their opinion writing ‘evaporated cane juice’ instead of ‘sugar’ is misleading.
Jelly Belly meanwhile are intent on having the case dismissed, appealing to common sense:
‘Plaintiff does not explain why an athlete—or anyone—would be surprised to find sugar in a product described as ‘Jelly Beans’.’
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