Starbucks Faces Lawsuit Over Lack of Real Fruit in 'Refresher' Beverages

Starbucks Corporation has a new battle to face in court after a federal judge said this week that a lawsuit filed by customers could proceed. The suit is about a complaint that says the coffee chain's Refresher fruit drinks have no real fruits in them.

The customers said fruits are the key ingredient in the drinks, but these are missing in the beverages served. U.S. District Judge John Cronan of Manhattan decided that the lawsuit may continue after rejecting Starbucks' request for the dismissal of nine of the 11 claims in class-action suits.

The judge explained that he made the decision because a significant number of reasonable customers would surely expect fruits in their drinks, as mentioned in their names. For instance, the Starbucks Mango Dragonfruit is expected to have real mango and dragonfruit in it.

According to Reuters, Starbucks customers complained that none of the coffee chain's Refresher drinks, including Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade, Pineapple Passionfruit Lemonade, Pineapple Passionfruit, Strawberry Açai Lemonade, and Strawberry Açai contain real mango, açai, or passion fruit.

They said the company has been promoting the beverages with fruits, but the actual drinks do not have them. The legal dispute that was filed in the New York District Court contended that Starbucks is charging extra for its Refreshers line of fruit drinks that are supposed to have water, fruit juice, and green coffee extract, but customers are not getting what they paid for.

The plaintiffs said customers were tricked into falsely thinking the fruity beverages had real mango and other fruits. In any case, the plaintiffs are Joan Kominis and Jason McAllister, and they are claiming that Starbucks' ads and names of the beverages are misleading and caused the overcharging of customers. McAllister and Kominis said through these offenses, the company violated the consumer protection laws.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that Starbucks could not immediately respond to a request for a comment on the matter but in a statement to other publications, Starbucks said the claims are "inaccurate and without merit."

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