09 Aug 2004 Coca-Cola Can’t Win

While reading various legal blogs tonight (including Overlawyered, SickofLawsuits.org, PointofLaw.com, BeldarBlog, The Curmudgeonly Clerk, ProfessorBainbridge and others), I was reminded of one of the stories in The National Center’s own Legal Briefs newsletter (in this particular case, Overlawyered was one of the sources):

The recipe for Coca-Cola is a closely guarded secret, and the Coca-Cola company has been pleasing customers since 1886. But that hasn’t stopped a group of class action lawyers from suing the company, saying they don’t like the company’s recipe.

It seems that Coca-Cola uses the sweetener Aspartame in bottles marketed for home use, and uses saccharin (in part) in soda fountains. The reason, Coca-Cola says, is that Aspartame is not as stable for fountain use.

Plaintiffs in the case say they should have been warned that fountain soda contains saccharin instead of the preferred Aspartame.

Meanwhile, another group of plaintiffs is suing Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and ten other companies for using Aspartame, saying it “is a drug masquerading as an additive.”

Damned if they do; damned if they don’t.