Woman sues Canada Dry for false advertising

[DawnStorm]

There's no real ginger in Ginger Ale.
Yes, I checked the Reference Page!


Really, lady, just start drinking Vernor's.

ETA: I don't know if its ginger content is any more real than she says Canada Dry is, but Vernor's has more of a bite to it. If I can get it down here in Maryland, she can get it where she lives; she's closer to Michigan than I am!

[thorny locust]

The article's confusing. It says they advertise it as being made with real ginger, but imply that this isn't so. If that's true, it's false advertising, and they should cut it out.

If what she's upset about is that it's mostly carbonated water and corn syrup, then she needs to learn how to read a label. Though I will grant that it's somewhat advanced label-reading to know that "made with" doesn't mean there are significant amounts of the ingredient involved.

[DawnStorm]

Hopefully this article from the New York Daily News will make more sense.

As far as ingredients go, one would probably have to keep reading to find the actual ingredient, in this case, ginger. Usually there's about a hangnail's worth of the ingredient in the g-product.

[ChasFink]

When I taught media literacy, I warned students to be cautious of the "made with" claims. My favorite is "made with real cheese", which is incredibly popular with advertisers. "Cheetos and Cheez Whiz are made with real cheese" I would tell them, "but so are mouse turds."*


*Yes, I know mice don't really like cheese all that much. Cut me some slack in the name of humor!

[DawnStorm]

Chas, maybe you could say: Slim Jims are made with real meat....but so is dog food.

Dawn--still trying to convince my husband that 'pasteurized cheese product' IS NOT real cheese (and failing)--Storm.

[Darth Credence]

It says "natural flavors" on the ingredient list, and they say it's made with ginger but the amount is proprietary. This says to me that there is just enough ginger in there to make the claim true, and this woman is going to lose her lawsuit if it goes to trial.

[overyonder]

When does food become a natural ingredient?

If I were to take fresh strawberries (e.g.), run them through a blender, and filter out the fiber material and the seeds [mostly resulting in juice], would I still be dealing with food, or a natural ingredient at this point? What about if I take that same juice, and boil it down to a thick concentrated flavor, is it still food? or a natural ingredient?

OY

[Richard W]

Also somewhat to the point, at what point during that process does it become "processed"?

[DawnStorm]

Seems to me those strawberries would become processed the minute you ran them through a blender. IMO, it's still a natural food even after all the other processes OY mentioned.

[Darth Credence]

OY - if you did that, and added a drop of that juice to every liter of "Strawberry Ale", you could claim that it is made with real strawberries. You could also wrap that up under "natural flavors" on the label, saying that you won't reveal all of the flavorings because it's proprietary.

[GenYus234]

I think the bigger issue is that Canada Dry Ginger Ale is wet.

[Darth Credence]

Now that's false advertising. I expect a beverage that says dry on the label to be pureed saltines.

[Keeper of the Mad Bunnies]

Originally Posted by Darth Credence

Now that's false advertising. I expect a beverage that says dry on the label to be pureed saltines.

Except that 'dry' does have a meaning in the world of drink - usually in reference to wine.

[GenYus234]

Also in the sense of lack of alcohol, such as a "dry county".

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by DawnStorm

Seems to me those strawberries would become processed the minute you ran them through a blender. IMO, it's still a natural food even after all the other processes OY mentioned.

AIUI, in some cases the original material is being disassembled down to the molecular level, and the molecules thought to have a specific effect being what's added to products.

The material may indeed be of natural origin, but it seems dubious to a lot of people to call it a natural food.

At what level of processing it becomes problematic is another question. You're right that running food through a blender counts as processing. Even hanging herbs to dry counts as processing, at least according to New York State, which says I can't sell the results without a 20C processing license.

[Darth Credence]

Originally Posted by Keeper of the Mad Bunnies

Except that 'dry' does have a meaning in the world of drink - usually in reference to wine.

Did something in my comment make you think I was serious?

[Alarm]

Originally Posted by Darth Credence

Now that's false advertising. I expect a beverage that says dry on the label to be pureed saltines.

Dry would be your mouth after trying to drink pureed saltines...

[GenYus234]

Originally Posted by Darth Credence

Did something in my comment make you think I was serious?

I'm guessing your humor was too dry.

[overyonder]

Originally Posted by DawnStorm

Seems to me those strawberries would become processed the minute you ran them through a blender. IMO, it's still a natural food even after all the other processes OY mentioned.

Or could say that they were processed because the tails were removed, and the strawberries were cut in half.

Or for wine, because the grapes were stomped or pressed.

My point is, at what point does a "natural ingredient" becomes something else?

OY

[GenYus234]

If it doesn't come from a food through "basic" processing, it is not a natural flavor.

(3) The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors, include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in subpart A of part 582 of this chapter, and the substances listed in 172.510 of this chapter.

(3) Substances obtained by cutting, grinding, drying, pulping, or similar processing of tissues derived from fruit, vegetable, meat, fish, or poultry, e.g., powdered or granulated onions, garlic powder, and celery powder, are commonly understood by consumers to be food rather than flavor and shall be declared by their common or usual name.