If you tried Poppi prebiotic sodas in the hopes that the trendy drinks — touted by stars like Kylie Jenner and J-Lo in social media posts — would improve your gut health, you may have been misled. in error, according to a new class action lawsuit.
“Prebiotics are a special type of fiber that can serve as food for the healthy bacteria in your gut,” Poppi’s website claims about its products. “Each can of poppi contains agave inulin, a prebiotic (and natural sweetener!) extracted from the agave tequilana plant.”
However, the complaint filed Wednesday alleges that the low-sugar, “gut-friendly” sodas contain such small amounts of prebiotic fiber (just 2 grams per serving) that the average consumer would experience no health benefits from drinking them.
“A consumer would have to drink more than four Poppi sodas per day to benefit from the potential health benefits of its prebiotic fibers,” states the suit, which seeks $5,000,000 in damages. “However, even if a consumer did this, Poppi’s high sugar content would offset most, if not all, of these purported gut health benefits.”
The complaint goes on to claim that an inulin diet could cause “inflammation and even liver damage” with doses as low as 10 grams per day and demands a jury trial to determine whether Poppi broke the law with its advertisements.
Poppi’s sodas, which went viral in the years since they appeared on “Shark Tank” in 2018, sell for $2.49 a can on the manufacturer’s website.
Colorful cans of apple cider vinegar-infused soda became so popular that the lawsuit noted that Forbes reported in March that the brand had a 19% market share – more than 1.5 times that of Coca-Cola products – and was the 11th fastest growing drink. brand, beating out companies like Gatorade and Liquid Death.
Representatives for Poppi did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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