Trader Joe's has been hit with a lawsuit from customers who claim the grocery chain misled them over the caffeine content of its French Roast Low Acid coffee. The legal action, filed in California on Thursday, alleges that the coffee contained significantly less caffeine than a regular blend, despite not being labelled as decaffeinated or half-caff.
According to the lawsuit, the French Roast Low Acid coffee was found to have just 51 per cent of the caffeine of Trader Joe's Dark French Roast and 45 per cent of that found in the House Blend. The plaintiffs argued that coffee drinkers depend on caffeine for energy, and that the product's labelling led them to believe it was fully caffeinated.
The lawsuit states that it is standard practice not to indicate caffeine levels on full-caffeinated coffee, but that products such as 'decaf' and 'half-caff' are clearly labelled. The plaintiffs claim the French Roast Low Acid coffee did not carry such a disclosure, leaving customers to assume it contained a standard amount of caffeine.
The legal action seeks to halt what it describes as Trader Joe's 'unlawful sales and marketing' of the product, as well as unspecified monetary damages. The Independent has approached Trader Joe's and the customers' attorney for comment.
Separately, Trader Joe's faces another lawsuit from a woman in Portland who claims she discovered a fingertip from a rubber glove in the chain's orange juice. The concerned customer alleged that the severed tip may have come from a human hand that had been part of the pulp she had been drinking.
