Suja Life 'raw' juices in lawsuit on high pressure processing (HPP)
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FDA: You can't call HPP-treated juice
fresh'... (But can you call it raw?)
By Elaine WATSON
, 11-Feb-2014
3 comments
Last updated on 10-Jul-2014 at 21:51 GMT
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High pressure processing (HPP) has breathed fresh life into the US juice market. But if
beverage firms are excited about the technology, so, it appears, are plaintiffs' attorneys,
who are starting to take issue with the way some HPP-treated products are being marketed.
So what can and cant you say about HPP-treated foods and
beverages without getting into legal hot water?
With respect to the word fresh on food labels, the law is clear*, an
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FDA spokesman told FoodNavigator-USA: No, you can't call it fresh if
30/09/2014 03:31 a.m.
Suja Life 'raw' juices in lawsuit on high pressure processing (HPP)
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you put it under HPP [see regulation 21
CFR 101.95 click here ]."
With respect to the word raw, however,
there is no specific regulation, which is
why the makers of some HPP-treated
juices are now being targeted in a new
wave of lawsuits.
Is raw the next natural in the food
litigation stakes?
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Regulation/Suja-Life-raw-juices-in-l...
The Poster Boys of HPP!:
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fight to Innocent
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deal in western Europe
HPP shows 'greatest
promise' among modern
beverage processing
techniques: Study
Judge tosses HPP-treated
juice lawsuit vs Hain
Celestial; says plaintiff
derailed his own case
The latest firm in the firing line is San
Diego-based Suja Life LLC, which is accused of duping shoppers into
paying over the odds for HPP-treated juices by labeling them as
"organic, raw and cold pressed', when in reality, alleges plaintiff
Rebecca Heikkila, they are "nothing more than run-of-the-mill
processed juices".
(The packaged has since been updated and now says 'organic and
cold-pressured'.)
Heikkila's complaint, filed on February 5 in California - comes hot on
the heels of a similar lawsuit filed by the same law firm (Bursor &
Fisher, P.A.) against Hain Celestial over the marketing of its BluePrint
HPP-treated juices (click here )**.
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Suja juices have a 30-day shelf-life, unlike genuinely raw juices that must be consumed within
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days, she adds: This artificial extension of the lifespan of the juice products violates the
fundamental principles underlying the raw food movement, consumers expectations, and industry
standards.
A direct and unavoidable result of the use of HPP is the destruction of the enzymes, nutrients,
probiotics, and minerals that, but for HPP, would be found in the juice products"
Avure Technologies: HPP products should be considered
raw
So is she right?
Not surprisingly, leading HPP provider Avure Technologies Inc
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CRA
(which is not named in the lawsuit, and is commenting
independently as an expert on the technology, not on this lawsuit
specifically), says HPP doesn't have the destructive effects
Suja labels used to say 'organic, raw &
cold-pressed', but now say: 'organic and
cold pressured"
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claimed.
Indeed, says Errol Raghubeer, Ph.D., VP, microbiology & food
technology at Avure, one of the primary reasons firms use HPP rather than traditional
heat-pasteurization is precisely because key nutrients are not damaged.
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He told FoodNavigator-USA: Under the HPP conditions used for the commercial application of
HPP to juice and other food products, vitamins such as ascorbic acid, niacin and folic acid in
Live Supplier Webinars
orange juice; bioactive compounds such as chlorophyll and lutein in wheat grass; phytochemicals
polyphenol oxidase and pectin methyl esterase, among others, are not affected.
The FoodNavigator-USA
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Asked about probiotics, he said: Most probiotic microorganisms (strains of lactic acid bacteria) are
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such as chicoric and chlorogenic acids in Echinacea purpurea; and food enzyme systems such as
30-Sep-2014
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not significantly inactivated under these processing conditions.
These strains of bacteria quickly reach original population levels
after HPP.
These are the primary microbiological determent of the shelf life
of HPP products and it is the reason, together with the control of
enzyme activity, that HPP products require refrigeration for
Sujas website says: Once our juice is in
its final packaging, we use Cold
Pressure/High Pressure Processing (HPP)
to preserve maximum nutrition and high
quality freshness. A high level of pressure is
applied to the bottles to destroy pathogens
while preserving crucial vitamins, enzymes
and nutrients.
microbiological and chemical stability and should be considered
raw.
What will this case hinge upon?
But will such
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technical
details be the
key to
defending this
case, or will it
hinge upon
whether
Some raw juice firms are now making marketing capital out of the
fact that they dont use HPP. Marcus Antebi, CEO of Juice Press,
for example, says: The word raw is synonymous to users like us
with a higher grade truly fresh and highly perishable product.
Therefore the word raw [to describe HPP-treated juices] is
deceptive to me in its use.
reasonable
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consumers
would
consider
HPP-treated
juices to be 'raw'?
William Dance and Matthew Kaplan, LA-based attorneys at law firm Tucker Ellis LLP, told
FoodNavigator-USA that Suja could try to argue that primary jurisdiction applies (ie. the FDA
should weigh in on this issue), but noted that at the dismissal stage the case will "most likely hinge
upon whose definition of 'raw' seems more reasonable and whether, or how, that can be
demonstrated".
They added: "At one end of the spectrum is plaintiff; her definition is based on the views espoused
by believers in 'raw foodism'... At the other extreme is the view that raw simply means not cooked.
By all accounts, defendants products fall somewhere in between; its juice blends are not cooked,
but neither are they totally unprocessed."
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However, Rebecca Cross, an attorney at San Francisco-based law firm BraunHagey & Borden
LLP, argued that consumers generally understand 'raw' to mean unheated, adding: "No reasonable
consumer could think that packaged juices are not processed in any way."
The judge, she said, should take inspiration from Pelayo v. Nestle USA Inc., et al (2:13-cv-0521), in
which the court dismissed with prejudice 'natural' allegations concerning Nestle's Buitoni pastas,
"finding no reasonable consumer could think that the products sprung from ravioli trees or tortellini
bushes".
What is high pressure processing?
HPP allows products to be treated in their final packaging, with flexible containers carrying the
product into a high-pressure chamber, which is flooded with cold water and pressurized.
The pressure causes lethal damage to the cellular structure of bacteria, molds and yeasts, but
maintain colors, textures, flavors and nutrients that can be damaged by heat treatment, enabling
firms to significantly increase the shelf-life of products and retain their clean-label credentials by
avoiding additives.
While the capex costs can be high for smaller manufacturers to buy their own HPP equipment, a
toll manufacturing infrastructure has built up whereby several companies will feed product into a
central HPP facility, said Manny Picciola, managing director and partner in L.E.K. Consulting's
Chicago office.
I think were just at the tip of the iceberg in terms of the potential for this technology. Its being
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used in everything from guacamole to deli meats, juices and
petfood. But the Holy Grail application is probably ground beef.
Plaintiff Rebecca Heikkila, who seeks to represent a nationwide
class, alleges violation of the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act,
breach of express warranty, breach of the implied warranty of
Boulder Brands Investment Group took a
minority stake in San Diego-based juice
maker Suja Life LLC last year
merchantability, unjust enrichment. She also seeks to represent
a sub-class of California consumers, and alleges violation of the
states Consumers Legal Remedies Act, its Unfair Competition
Law, and False Advertising Law.
Suja told us on Monday night that it had "not been served", adding: "If and when if we are, we will
submit a comment at that time."
The case is Heikkila v Suja Life LLC (3:14-cv-00556 ) filed in the US District Court, Northern
District of California.
*Asked whether having 'fresh' in your brand name could be problematic if you make HPP-treated
juices, the FDA said if could not comment on individual brands or companies, but said: "If the use
of the term 'fresh' in a brand name suggest/implies that the food is unprocessed or unpreserved,
the requirements in 21 CFR 101.95(a) would apply."
A spokeswoman for Starbucks (which owns the Evolution Fresh brand), told us: "Our juices are
clearly labeled as being high pressured processed, and we do not market them to suggest
otherwise."
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3 COMMENTS (COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED)
disingenuous
It is disingenuous to refer to a HPP product to a "run of the mill" thermally processed juice.
VERY different from a chemical and flavor perspective.
Posted by R Sweeney
14 February 2014 | 19h09
REPORT ABUSE
HPP and Raw
You can't legally sell unprocessed juices through the grocery channel. You are required to do something to
the juice to eliminate the potential for harmful pathogens. HPP impacts the flavor and nutrients the least of
all commercial purification methods. Hardcore raw foodies can only legally buy their "3 day" juice directly
from a juice bar and the bottle they take home must have a warning label telling consumers that the
product is potentially dangerous to consume. HPP is the best juice you will find in the grocery store, unless
the store has its own cold pressed juice bar.
Posted by Shawn Sugarman
12 February 2014 | 18h45
REPORT ABUSE
HPP and Raw
I think the article seems to miss that Suja doesn't claim their product is raw anywhere on the package. i am
drinking one right now and cant find the word raw anywhere? It just says Organic Cold Pressured and
clearly states they use HPP? I dont understand what the lawsuit is about?
Posted by Peter
11 February 2014 | 23h15
REPORT ABUSE
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