Top US smoothie company accused of deception after toxic PFAS discovered

A new class-action lawsuit alleges US beverage maker Bolthouse Farms deceived customers with claims that its Green Goodness smoothie is made of “100% fruit juice” after testing found the drink contains toxic PFAS, a synthetic chemical, at levels far above federal advisory drinking water limits.

PFAS are a class of about 12,000 chemicals typically used to make thousands of consumer products resist water, stains and heat. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, and they are linked to cancer, fetal complications, liver disease, kidney disease, autoimmune disorders and other serious health issues.

Though water is considered to be a main exposure route to the chemicals, researchers are increasingly finding food to be a source of exposure. However, the Food and Drug Administration has taken few meaningful steps to protect the nation’s food supply, critics say.

“When FDA falters, the law firms that are out there are going to protect their clients because the FDA is not dealing with it,” said Tom Neltner, chemicals policy director with the Environmental Defense Fund, a non-profit that pressures the agency to take stronger action on PFAS.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs and Bolthouse Farms did not respond to requests for comment. The same attorneys weeks earlier filed a similar suit against Coca-Cola over PFAS in its Simply Tropical drink.

Though Bolthouse’s packaging states that the smoothie is made of “100% fruit juice”, the suit says PFAS are “a category of synthetic chemicals that are, by definition, artificial”.

Its testing found three PFAS compounds – PFOS, 6:2 FTOH, and PFHxS.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently found virtually no level of exposure to PFOS in drinking water is safe. No limits exist for 6:2 FTOH and PFHxS because they have not been as thoroughly studied as PFOS, though independent science has linked all three compounds to many of the same health issues.

It is unclear how the chemicals got in the drink, and it is highly unlikely they were intentionally added. PFAS researchers who reviewed the case told the Guardian the chemicals may have been in the fruit. Fruit could be contaminated from pesticides, water, or the use of PFAS-tainted sewage sludge as fertilizer.

It is also possible any water added to the drink could have been contaminated. Finally, it is conceivable the chemicals were added to the plastic packaging. A lawsuit filed in late December just days ahead of the class-action suit asks a judge to order Houston-based firm Inhance to stop adding PFAS to plastic. Testing from academic and EPA researchers over the last two years has found high levels of the chemicals can leach into food and other products that have been treated with PFAS.

However, experts say contaminated plastic is less likely in the Bolthouse case because the levels would probably be much higher.

“We just don’t know, but Bolthouse should, and it should always be testing their products,” Neltner said. “But I’m guessing they are doing that now.”

He added that it’s a “hard class-action case to win because it’s a comparatively small harm to break down,” but he said it is still a harm against potentially millions of customers. Moreover, class-action suits have previously effected regulatory changes and shed light on the scope of the problem.

“It can spur legislative changes, and most of our early public knowledge of PFAS came from discovery in class-action lawsuits,” Neltner added.

The suit also highlights Bolthouse’s wider advertising campaign, charging that it is “engaged in pervasive marketing efforts to convince consumers that the product is a healthy, natural fruit juice beverage”. Bolthouse also claims the smoothie is free of “numerous questionable ingredients”, such artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, the suit states.

“Defendant is well aware of consumers’ desire to avoid potentially harmful chemicals, which is exactly why it has engaged in an aggressive, uniform marketing campaign intended to convince consumers that the product is free from artificial ingredients like PFAS,” the suit reads.

The suit, filed in the southern district of New York, asks a judge to order monetary compensation and take other “appropriate” steps.