Poppi is facing its second class action this year taking aim at its purported nutrition credentials, as a lawsuit filed this week in California alleges the prebiotic soda brand’s sugar content more than offsets any gut health benefits.
The lawsuit, filed by San Diego County resident Vanessa Jackson in the United States District Court Northern District of California, alleges that Poppi has misrepresented its health claims in its on- and offline marketing and on its packaging, including at least seven different phrases on cans and boxes like “gut health never tasted this good” and “for a healthy gut.”
The brand’s added sugar content, the complaint suggests, does more harm than good to the consumer’s gut microbiome and overall health.
Citing a violation of California’s Unfair Competition, False Advertising and Consumer Legal Remedies Act laws, the complaint also alleges that the low amount of fiber in Poppi’s sodas limit any health benefits, while the sugars can actually harm immunity and the balance of good bacteria in the digestive system, noting that “simple sugars serve as a nutrient for harmful bacteria.”
The lawsuit further suggested that “[r]ecent studies have shown that high intake of sugars increase the relative abundance of [harmful] Proteobacteria in the gut, while simultaneously decreasing the abundance of [beneficial] Bacteroidetes.”
“Poppi is a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB), containing up to 100% of its calories from free and added sugar, and there is a vast body of scientific evidence demonstrating that consuming sugar-sweetened beverages harms rather than supports overall health — and digestive health in particular,” the complaint states.
As well, the complaint points to further violations in Poppi’s social media marketing, citing several Instagram posts – dated between March 2021 and January 2023 – in which the brand said it could help consumers with immunity, constipation, bloat, acne, heartburn, poor digestion and slow metabolism.
This is the second class action this year alleging that Poppi’s drinks aren’t as good for the gut as they claim to be. A separate lawsuit filed in California in May alleges that the agave inulin Poppi uses as its primary source of prebiotic fiber was far too low to have any meaningful impact on gut health.
That complaint argued that a “consumer would need to drink more than four Poppi sodas daily for 21 consecutive days” to have any effect on gut health, and similarly suggested that the effects of high-sugar intake would outweigh the benefit.
While the health messaging may now have placed the brand under strong scrutiny, Poppi has also been considering moving away from its gut health focus in recent months. At the 2024 Beverage Forum in May, co-founder Allison Ellsworth said the company had found that most consumers simply drink Poppi for its flavor, not for functional benefits, and suggested the brand would be looking to lean away from its prebiotic preoccupation in the future.
The brand’s Super Bowl commercial earlier this year suggested that the brand had “none of the bad stuff” of older soda brands, while also calling out its average 5 grams of sugar per 12 oz. can.
Poppi’s drinks contain between 3 to 5 grams of sugar per 12 oz. can, depending on the flavor, whereas a Coca-Cola has 39 grams of added sugar.
According to NielsenIQ, the brand grew dollar sales 171.5% to over $273.4 million in U.S. retail in the 52-week period ending September 7.
BevNET has reached out to Poppi for comment.