Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and other companies making soft drinks and selling them in schools are about to get slapped with a lawsuit filed by parents that claims that the companies use caffeine in their beverages to get kids hooked on products that are dangerous because of their empty calories, among other charges, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported yesterday.
Heading the effort are a number of attorneys who made their mark by successfully fighting tobacco companies with class action lawsuits. Also involved is The Center for Science in the Public Interest.
A filing in the case is expected this month in Massachusetts, the report said.
Of the possible arguments that may be used are that school vending machines offer some products that are tempting and dangerous to kids; deceptive advertising: that kids think the items in vending machines are good just by the fact that they are placed in schools; and the caffeine addiction factor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. (Atlanta is the location of Coca-Cola’s world headquarters.)
Officials at Coca-Cola, noting that the case involves the entire soft drink industry, referred calls to the American Beverage Association. Officials at that trade organization did not respond to inquiries by press time.
Last summer, the ABA released voluntary guidelines to restrict the sale of soda in school vending machines. At the time, Pepsi-Cola North America and Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages both voiced their support. The ABA is set to launch an ad campaign in January that indicates that the beverage industry is concerned about childhood obesity and working on the problem.
The sale of soda in schools has come under increasing attack as one source of the obesity problem in this country. State legislatures and school boards have taken their own action to limit or ban the sale of soft drinks in school vending machines. California recently signed a bill banning the beverages in all its public schools and this month the Miami-Dade County public school board passed a similar bill, the report said.
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