Simply PFAS: Lawsuit Claims ‘All Natural’ Orange Juice Brand Contains Toxic Forever Chemicals

If a product is titled “Simply Orange Juice” and advertised as “all natural,” you would reasonably expect that it contained freshly-squeezed orange juice, water and little else. You certainly wouldn’t expect it to contain unsafe levels of toxic forever chemicals linked to health ailments from immunosuppression to reproductive problems to cancer.

Yet that is exactly what the Coca-Cola-owned Simply Orange products contain, according to a class action lawsuit filed in a New York federal court on Dec. 28 of last year, giving the lie to its natural claims.

“In reality, Plaintiff’s testing has revealed that the Product contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a category of synthetic chemicals that are, by definition, not natural,” the lawsuit states, as Top Class Actions reported.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – or PFAS – are a growing concern because of the many health impacts associated with exposure and their tendency to persist in the human body for months to years and in the environment for thousands of years, according to the PFAS Project Lab. There are thousands of these chemicals that are commonly used in industry and in consumer products including firefighting foam and stain- or water-resistant items. They have been found in the blood of most U.S. residents as well as in breast milk and umbilical cord blood, as well as rainwater around the world. 

As concerns about these chemicals mount, efforts to regulate them have increased. In June of last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its safe drinking water guidelines for two of the most common PFAS to near zero.

Now, plaintiff Joseph Lurenz claims that independent testing for the two chemicals in Simply Orange Juice turned up levels “hundreds of times” more than that, according to Top Class Actions and The Guardian. 

The PFAS in question–PFOA and PFOS–are considered two of the most dangerous forever chemicals. While they have been phased out from active use in the U.S., they continue to linger in the environment. 

The suit claims that their presence in the juice renders its advertising claims misleading. Simply’s packaging promotes the beverage as from “all natural ingredients,” “simply natural,” having “nothing to hide,” and using “filtered water,” according to The Guardian. 

This, the lawsuit argues, would prompt “reasonable consumers to believe that additional care has been taken to remove any incidental chemicals or impurities.” 

Lurenz is suing Coca-Cola and Simply Orange Juice for fraud, unjust enrichment and violating warranty and New York consumer laws, according to Top Class Action. Representing him are Jason P. Sultzer and Daniel Markowitz of The Sultzer Law Group and Nick Suciu III, Erin Ruben, J. Hunter Bryson and Gary Klinger of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC. He is suing on behalf of anyone who has purchased the juice in the U.S., as well as a New York-based subclass, and wants damages, a jury trial and all the fees and costs associated with the suit. 

“As a result of Defendants’ misconduct, Plaintiff and putative Class Members have suffered injury in fact, including economic damages,” the lawsuit states.

The chemicals could have ended up in the juice through the water, fruit or packaging, according to The Guardian. Environmental Defense Fund chemicals policy director Tom Neltner told The Guardian it was unlikely that they were added intentionally, or the levels would have been even higher. However, he said their presence is a symptom of a wider regulatory loophole: While the EPA has updated its drinking water guidelines for PFAS, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not been as vigilant with food. It tests some products for the chemicals but sets its safety threshold higher than public health experts advise. 

“As we get better and better able to measure PFAS at lower levels and the FDA falls further behind on what it is testing … then you’re going to keep seeing these lawsuits pop up,” Neltner told The Guardian.