Twining Tea

September 2016: A federal judge granted summary judgment in favor of Twinings of North America finding that the named plaintiff did not have standing to pursue injunctive relief. Later in the month, the named plaintiff filed a Notice of Appeal regarding the final judgment.

April 2014: A federal judge certified the class for injunctive relief but not monetary relief, finding that the named plaintiff failed to present a practical way to measure monetary damages.

January 2014: A federal judge determined that consumers could not move forward with health-related deceptive labeling claims made against Twining Tea. The class action complaint, which was originally filed in 2012, alleges that the company mislabels its green, black, and white tea products as being natural sources of antioxidants without meeting certain regulatory requirements for making such a claim. The judge granted Twining Tea’s motion for summary judgment on the grounds that such a claim is not illegal because (1) the FDA has not defined the term “natural source of,” and (2) the claim is too general and does not relate to a specific health-related condition. (Lanovaz et al v. Twinings of North America, Inc., Case No. 12-cv-02646, N.D. Cal.).

For more information about other class-action lawsuits filed regarding the alleged deceptive advertising of tea products and TINA.org’s coverage of the issue, click here.