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Tropicana settles sweetener suit
By ERIC TORBENSON © St. Petersburg Times, published September 26, 1998 Tropicana, now owned by PepsiCo Inc., said in settling a class-action lawsuit Friday that it did not know some of the apple juice drinks were "adulterated" with sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup. Problems with the Bradenton company's suppliers caused some apple-flavored juices to have sweeteners while others didn't, said Martin D. Chitwood, a partner at the Atlanta law firm that filed the suit. Under the settlement, Tropicana admitted no wrongdoing. Tropicana sold the juices with incorrect labeling between March 1990 and September 1997, a settlement order stated. Using tracking data of where the juices were sold, Tropicana will distribute 50-cent coupons for Cranberry/Apple and Apple/Berry/Pear drinks. "We wanted the settlement to be a bit larger, but we were satisfied with the documents that Tropicana gave us on the case," Chitwood said Friday. "It wasn't as widespread as we thought it might have been." Tropicana also will pay $325,000 in legal fees, as well as the cost of a full-page ad in USA Today describing the settlement. A fairness hearing, at which objections and concerns about the settlement can be aired, will be at 10 a.m. Nov. 13 in Manatee County federal court in Bradenton.
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ropicana Beverages Inc. will send $1.15-million of coupons to customers who bought apple juice products that the juicemaker failed to label as being artificially sweetened.
