The food and beverage industry faces pressure to clean up its marketing following a flood of lawsuits that target big-name companies like Coca-Cola Co. and Nestle SA over greenwashing and other misleading claims.
Lawsuits targeting advertising in the food industry are at a peak, lawyers say. As a result, companies are looking to alter the way they present products and better back up claims they make about sustainability and other ethics-based selling points.
“The industry is kind of a magnet for these types of claims,” said Joshua Margolin, a partner at Selendy Gay Elsberg, noting that food companies can be targeted for advertising on their environmental impact as well as for labor and animal rights violations.
One prominent case involved milk producer Fairlife, which faced backlash when a video of violent animal abuse went viral two years ago. Fairlife LLC, which is owned by Coca-Cola, agreed to a $21 million settlement in April to resolve allegations that it misled consumers about mistreating cows.
Coca-Cola was also in hot water last year when it was suedalong with several other beverage companies for falsely marketing bottles as “100% recyclable” when US facilities don’t have that capacity. Other companies such as
BlueTriton Brands, whose products include Poland Spring and Deer Park water, have been sued over their recycling claims in recent years....
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