• The Kraft Heinz Co. has agreed to settle in principle a proposed class action lawsuit that claims the MiO brand drink mixes falsely claimed to contain only natural flavors on their labels (subscription to Law360 required). Specifically, named plaintiff, Sandra Adams, alleged in the June 2022 complaint that The Kraft Heinz Co. was misleading consumers by advertising MiO as having no artificial flavors when it actually contained malic acid, which Adams called an “artificial petrochemical.”
  • The complaint sought to certify a class of consumers from Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as a separate class for plaintiffs in Florida. Adams claimed all of the plaintiffs would not have paid the full price of the MiO products had they known the product contained malic acid. The Kraft Heinz Co. originally sought to dismiss the proposed class action and argued that Adams had not sufficiently shown that malic acid is an artificial flavor. However, the motion to dismiss was denied.
  • Details of the intended settlement have not been disclosed, nor has a settlement agreement been filed, but an order dismissing the case was filed on August 25.