Pepsi changes fruit flavored drinks labels
Tropicana beverages to reflect the fact that they actually contain
little or no fruit juice.
Despite being labeled as "made with real fruit juice", Tropicana Peach Papaya actually contains no peace or papaya juice, and only a small amount of pear juice from concentrate. Similarly, Tropicana Strawberry Melon contains no strawberry juice or melon juice.
Henceforth, both drinks will carry the statement: "flavored juice drink/from concentrate with other natural flavors". They will still feature pictures of the fruits on their packaging.
A spokesperson told Foodnavigator-USA.com that existing stock carrying the old labels will not be withdrawn from sale, but that the new wording is being implemented immediately and should appear on all products for sale from January 2006.
The decision to change the labeling comes as part of a settlement in a lawsuit filed by attorneys on behalf of a consumer in New Jersey. Food industry watchdog the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) joined the case this year.
"There are important differences between real fruit juice on the one hand, and sodas and fruit-flavored drinks on the other," said Stephen Gardner, litigation director for CSPI. "Tropicana Peach Papaya and Tropicana Strawberry Melon simply are not 100 percent juice, and this settlement will help make that more clear."
Pepsi-Cola North America's director of juice and juice drinks, Danielle Vona, said: "We're open to listening to legitimate concerns and this seemed like a reasonable concern. We want to take every opportunity we can to provide consumers with nutrition information about our products."PepsiCo has also pledged to donate $100,000 towards the American Heart Association's work in New Jersey.
