A consumer lawsuit accuses Starbucks of adding sugar, sometimes as much as that in a Kit Kat bar, to drinks marketed as sugar-free.
The products in question include hot and iced protein lattes and matcha protein drinks in vanilla and caramel flavors. According to the federal complaint filed Friday, these drinks contain 13 to 21 grams of sugar per serving.
“No reasonable person” would expect a product labeled “sugar-free” to contain that much sugar, the lawsuit claims.
“This case is about false and misleading product names. It is not about missing nutritional information,” according to the lawsuit.
Starbucks denied misleading consumers with its menu in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday. The international coffee chain said it has “consistently and clearly provided information about its protein drinks, sugar-free options, customization choices and nutritional content in product ads, menus, marketing materials, Starbucks.com and the Starbucks app, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this matter.”
Hagens Berman filed the suit on behalf of three individual consumers who purchased sugar-free protein drinks from Starbucks in California, New York and Washington, the Associated Press reported.
“Consumers avoid sugar for a variety of reasons, whether it’s general health, diabetes, blood sugar or other factors, and for many, mislabeling like this is significant,” Steve Berman, co-founder and managing partner of the Seattle-based company, told the AP.
Seattle-based Starbucks said the sugar in its protein drinks comes from the protein-fortified milk it uses. The company said it doesn’t add sugar to the drinks and uses sugar-free syrup for flavoring.
On Starbucks’ website Monday, the drinks were marketed as “sugar-free,” but the company also said how much sugar was in each drink and that they were made without added sugar.
The lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of U.S. consumers who purchased the drinks. He also wants the court to order Starbucks to stop using the “sugar-free” label on products that contain sugar.
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