DeAngelo and Fortin comment on recent class action lawsuit against soda brand Poppi

Kris DeAngelo and Neal Fortin of IFLR commented in a recent article in The Detroit News:Poppi, Gen Z’s Favorite Soda, Is Being Sued: Here’s Why It Matters.”

A California woman recently filed a class action lawsuit against the Poppi soda brand for their claims to promote gut health. The class action lawsuit is available online here.

Kris DeAngelo and Neal Fortin of Michigan State University commented on why there is little FDA guidance on these types of health claims, and why this discourages companies from conducting scientific studies to support such claims.

DeAngelo says the industry needs guidance on what threshold of pre- and probiotics a food must contain to claim a health benefit. He adds that such guidance is unlikely to come soon because the FDA is underfunded and has higher priorities.

Fortin adds that for food companies, marketing spend has a better return on investment than scientific research when it comes to making health claims about food products. “Research is expensive and time-consuming,” he says. “If you develop a new drug and prove it’s safe and effective, you get exclusive rights to use that drug. But if a company develops a prebiotic soda and does research on inulin, anyone can use it. Companies invest more money in marketing because it gives a better return than science.”

Read the full article at The Detroit News: Poppi, Gen Z’s Favorite Soda, Is Being Sued: Here’s Why It Matters

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