Coca-Cola Sued Over Missing Ingredient

The Coca-Cola company is being sued over allegations that its marketing of margarita-flavored hard seltzers is misleading as it gives the impression they contain tequila when they do not.

In a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Monday, Tamera Fletcher, a resident of Monroe County, claimed that the company's Topo Chico brand likely used another form of alcohol rather than one derived from agave while suggesting that it contained the traditional ingredients of a margarita, which is widely accepted to include tequila.

As such, it was benefiting from the popular appeal of the agave-derived spirit while using less expensive ingredients, the lawsuit claims.

Newsweek approached Coca-Cola via email for comment on Tuesday.

The lawsuit argues that as the hard seltzers list only alcohol as an ingredient on their packaging, Coca-Cola had not identified the specific type or source of the alcohol, meaning the ingredients list was "insufficient to truthfully inform consumers of what they were buying."

It noted that several other hard seltzer brands contain flavorless alcohol instead of tequila, but that these were branded "margarita style" drinks. Those that contain tequila or other spirits used in common cocktails make a point of noting the "real" ingredients on their packaging.

The lawsuit claims that the use of margarita in the product's name, coupled with agave imagery on the packaging, gave the impression that the drinks contained agave spirit.

The ingredients list shows that the Topo Chico hard seltzers contain agave syrup. But the suit argues that the front label "omits... that the agave ingredient it contains is 'agave syrup,' a sweetener, not the agave spirit of tequila, and is a 'Margarita-style' beverage."

"The labeling of 'Margarita Hard Seltzer' across a field of agave plants suggests and tells consumers they are buying a canned version of a margarita, defined by its presence of tequila," the court filing concludes. "Instead, consumers get an alcoholic beverage without tequila, replaced with an alcohol base."

These "false and misleading representations and omissions," it alleges, allows Coca-Cola to sell the hard seltzers at a premium price compared to similarly constituted products, "and higher than it would be sold for absent the misleading representations and omissions."

The lawsuit notes that tequila-based drinks are desirable as they tend to be produced through traditional farming methods, are often promoted by celebrities, and that tequila is regarded to have a superior flavor profile. It claims the appeal was something that the marketing was playing upon.

The court document says that Fletcher bought the Topo Chico hard seltzers in Miami and "prefers alcoholic beverages based on distilled spirits over those based on fermentation and/or brewing, due to reasons including superior quality and taste." A margarita "is a favorite alcoholic beverage."

The lawsuit alleges one count of violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and one count of false and misleading advertising. It calls for a jury trial and the awarding of monetary damages and interest to customers in Florida who bought the drink.

Coca-Cola is not the only drink company to face a class action lawsuit over its marketing. In February, Starbucks was taken to court in Washington, D.C., over claims on its packaging that its coffee was "100 percent ethically sourced."

Other companies have also faced accusations of unjust enrichment over similar marketing claims.