Ginger Ale Labeling Suit to Proceed Against Dr Pepper

A federal court has reportedly refused to dismiss a mislabeling class action alleging Dr Pepper’s Canada Dry Ginger Ale contains “real ginger” but dismissed the plaintiffs’ fraud claims with leave to amend. Fitzhenry-­Russell v. Dr Pepper Snapple Grp., Inc., No. 17­0564 (N.D. Cal., motion hearing April 19, 2017). While the court found the plaintiffs’ labeling claims “plausible,” it rejected the fraud allegations for a lack of precision. The complaint asserts that the ginger ale’s label does not include “real ginger root” as an ingredient but lists chemical flavoring instead. A similar class action against Dr Pepper was transferred to California’s Northern District in April 2017; details on that action appear in Issue 628 of this Update. See Law360, April 19, 2017.

Issue 632