- A federal judge in California has ruled that a class action lawsuit (Law360 subscription required) alleging that Tree Top mislabels some juice products as being “100% juice” despite containing synthetic ascorbic acid can move forward because the plaintiff plausibly alleged that the ascorbic acid is not made from apples.
- The lawsuit, filed in July 2025, claims that Tree Top represents its apple juice products as being made of “100% Apple Juice,” “100% Juice,” or with “100% USA Apples,” which “signal[s] to reasonable consumers, like Plaintiff, that the Products are comprised solely of fruit-derived ingredients.” However, according to the complaint, “all commercial ascorbic acid [is] synthetically produced,” and ascorbic acid is “often derived from GMO corn starch, GMO corn sugar or rice starch.” Further, the plaintiff alleges that Tree Top described ascorbic acid on its website as being “derived from a multi-step process that typically begins with corn.” Tree Top filed a motion to dismiss the claims.
- According to the judge, the plaintiff cited scientific literature to allege that “it is commercially infeasible to extract ascorbic acid from fruits” and Tree Top’s labeling does not cure ambiguity regarding the source of the added ascorbic acid. Thus, she plausibly alleged claims under the unfair and fraudulent prongs of the California Unfair Competition Law, so there was no need to consider whether Tree Top violated FDA guidance at the motion to dismiss stage.
- Tree Top did succeed on the motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s request for injunctive relief because she cannot reasonably claim in the future that she believes the juice to only come from apples after seeing ascorbic acid in the ingredient list.
- Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor this and other food labeling litigation.