Judge Green Lights Lawsuit Accusing PepsiCo of Deceptively Advertising Protein Bars

Plaintiffs argue that a single Gatorade bar serving exceeds the daily health-based limits for added sugars, despited being billed as good for health.

A plant of PepsiCo company in Azov in the Rostov region, Russia, March 9, 2022. Reuters/Sergey Pivovarov/File Photo

A lawsuit against food and beverage giant PepsiCo alleging it made false claims about how healthy its Gatorade protein bars are can proceed, a federal judge ruled on Aug. 15.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts in San Jose, California, said the three consumer plaintiffs in the legal challenge against PepsiCo had plausibly alleged that the company’s marketing and labeling was deceptive.