ALBANY -- A western New York woman this month filed a lawsuit against Canada Dry, claiming its ginger ale doesn't contain any ginger as advertised.
The woman, Julie Fletcher, contends in the federal lawsuit filed July 10 in Buffalo that Canada Dry and its parent company, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. mislead customers that its soft drink includes real ginger.
"In truth, DPSG’s soft drink is not made from real ginger," the lawsuit filed by the Bolivar, Allegany County, woman alleges.
"Instead, Canada Dry Ginger Ale is made from carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, preservatives, and “natural flavors,” i.e., a flavor compound comprised predominately of flavor extracts not derived from ginger, and a minuscule amount of a ginger flavor extract."
The lawsuit is the latest among several brought against the Plano, Tx., company in other states, including in California and Massachusetts.
A third lawsuit in Missouri was dismissed after the person who brought the suit dropped it, according to the Buffalo News, which reported on the New York case Sunday.
In the Missouri case, the company contended that even if a laboratory could not find ginger in its drink, that shouldn't mean it is not an ingredient.
"Plaintiffs’ entire theory of falsity rests on a single-sentence conclusion that some never-identified ‘independent laboratory’ tested some unspecified beverage, in a never-disclosed way at a never-alleged time," the company said in its court papers, the Buffalo News reported.
There was no immediate comment from the company to the latest lawsuit.
Fletcher contended in the lawsuit that she believed Canada Dry was made using ginger root and "was, as a result, a healthier alternative to regular sodas."
The lawsuit said Fletcher bought Canada Dry when her children were sick, thinking it would soothe their stomach aches.
"At the time of each purchase of Canada Dry," the lawsuit said, "Ms. Fletcher did not know that the products that she purchased were not made from real ginger, but were instead made from a miniscule amount of a ginger flavor extract, which does not contain any of the health benefits of real ginger."
The lawsuit isn't the only one out there contending that products aren't as advertised.
For example, a federal class action lawsuit last year charged that Junior Mints candy puts too much air and not enough candy in their candy boxes.