Dive Brief:
- Coca-Cola has agreed to make label changes to the Vitaminwater brand per its nationwide settlement with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
- The organization and two law firms sued Coca-Cola in 2009 for allegedly misleading label claims about health benefits of Vitaminwater products, such as joint health and relaxation, and statements like "vitamins + water = what's in your hand," "vitamins + water = all you need," and "this combination of zinc and fortifying vitamins can ... keep you healthy as a horse." At the same time, Vitaminwater products contain about 32 grams of sugar.
- Coca-Cola will no longer use those statements and will include the phrase "with sweeteners" in two places on product labels.
Dive Insight:
By removing the health claims on Vitaminwater's labels and adding the phrase about sweeteners, Coca-Cola is both meeting the court's requirements and being more transparent about its product. Transparency is key in the food and beverage industry today as consumers want to know more about what is in the products they buy.
But removing and adding these label claims may only go so far in terms of what consumers assume about the product. The name of the product is still "Vitaminwater," and both vitamins and water are associated with health benefits. Consumers are beginning to avoid sweeteners — or at least say they are — but saying a product has sweeteners in it isn't likely to hurt sales of a product with well-established health-promoting ingredients directly in its name.
CSPI has led campaigns against both sugar and salt in the food supply, including both labeling and production changes. In the past year, the FDA has made recommendations about consumers' consumption for sugar, proposed labeling requirements for added sugar, and may in the future recommend maximum levels of salt that manufacturers can use in their products.