LaCroix allegedly including cockroach insecticide in its sparkling water

[left-of-center2012]

A lawsuit filed against LaCroix's parent company alleges the sparkling water advertised as "all natural" includes an ingredient used in cockroach insecticide as well as other artificial ingredients. Law firm Beaumont Costales filed the suit on behalf of customer Lenora Rice, CBS Philadelphia reports, and claims testing revealed the synthetic ingredients. LaCroix denies the allegations.

"LaCroix in fact contains ingredients that have been identified by the Food and Drug Administration as synthetic,” the lawsuit obtained by CBS states. "These chemicals include limonene, which can cause kidney toxicity and tumors; linalool propionate, which is used to treat cancer; and linalool, which is used in cockroach insecticide."

The lawsuit also states LaCroix makers are aware of the alleged unnatural ingredients. National Beverage Corp. denies the allegations, saying all essences in LaCroix sparkling waters are all 100 percent natural.

"The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers “natural” on a food label to be truthful and non-misleading when 'nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added,'” the company said in a statement earlier this week.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2018/10/05/lacroix-lawsuit-claims-sparkling-water-ingredients-cockroach-insecticide/1532241002/

[sl8]

1. The 'all-natural' label on your LaCroix is meaningless, but that doesn't mean the seltzer is bad fo

From https://www.popsci.com/lacroix-lawsuit-natural-synthetic-flavors

The ‘all-natural’ label on your LaCroix is meaningless, but that doesn’t mean the seltzer is bad for you
Your LaCroix can’t kill cockroaches. Or you.

By Neel V. Patel
Yesterday at 6:06pm

...

At least, that’s how the argument goes. The truth is, this lawsuit seems to be a stretch, working on the ambiguous nature of how the FDA distinguishes natural chemicals from synthetic ones, and a product of alarmist, chemophobic ideas about what we put in our foods.

...

Let’s start with limonene. PubChem, the National Institute of Health’s open database for chemical compounds, explicitly calls limonene a “naturally occurring chemical,” and “a major component of oil extracted from citrus peels.” Sounds pretty natural, right? As its name suggests, limonene is commonly used to give foods or other products a lemony flavor and fragrance.

...

Linalool is another additive used as a flavoring agent. It’s “naturally occurring,” found within many different types of flowers and spice plants, including mints, scented herbs, laurels, and cinnamon. It is most definitely used in insecticides as well—that part is true. But that doesn’t mean it’s poisonous to humans. After all, we don’t ban chocolate just because dogs can’t eat it. According to PubChem, the only real toxic effects linalool has been documented to inflict on humans are mild skin and eye irritation, namely from aerosolized forms of the chemical. That’s a pretty normal effect for a spicy substance. And, coincidentally, it may also be another anticancer ingredient!

That leaves linalyl propionate, derived from plants like ginger and lavender, and another common flavoring and fragrance additive. It’s been shown to help inhibit the proliferation of prostate cancer, at least in the form of Nagami kumquats. I’m honestly having a hard time trying to understand why the law firm decided “might actually be bad for cancer cells” would be an effective argument against LaCroix’s ingredients.

...

More at link

[left-of-center2012]

3. Yep. that's their excuse

"Nothing to see here. Our water is fine."

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. That's a popular Science article. Not a statement by Lacroix.

Seems like some pretty sound reasoning.

Whenever someone tells me “it’s all natural” I say so is ricin and botulism.

Unless LaCroix is secretly 50 percent linalool (don’t be too worried about that hypothetical; it would taste pretty gnarly) LaCroix drinkers have little to fear. According to Roger Clemens, an expert in food and regulatory science at the University of Southern California, it’s worth remembering these three compounds are found in low levels in a long list of different types of foods and drinks in the U.S. “It is very unlikely these naturally-occurring substances pose a health risk when consumed at levels usually found in foods,” he says. “If there were a health risk, then citrus juices and spices, such as curry, would not be consumed or be part of the commodity market.”


Moreover, food ingredients aren’t all of a sudden dangerous just because they have other, non-dietary uses. Casein, a primary protein in cow’s milk, isn’t making people sick just because it’s also an adhesive ingredient in glues. If someone is arguing that a substance is bad by telling you that it’s used in some poisonous product—as opposed to telling you how the exact substance in question is causing you harm—it’s a good indication they’re grasping at straws. Everything is made of chemicals; chemicals appear as ingredients in many things.

[Blue_true]

9. That wasn't the point of the article.

All the ingredients are naturally occurring extracts. Which means the "natural ingredients" labeling is correct. Many synthetic chemicals occur naturally, it is just cheaper to synthesize them.

[petronius]

5. A good read, thanks for the link!

I liked this paragraph in particular:

Moreover, food ingredients aren’t all of a sudden dangerous just because they have other, non-dietary uses. Casein, a primary protein in cow’s milk, isn’t making people sick just because it’s also an adhesive ingredient in glues. If someone is arguing that a substance is bad by telling you that it’s used in some poisonous product—as opposed to telling you how the exact substance in question is causing you harm—it’s a good indication they’re grasping at straws. Everything is made of chemicals; chemicals appear as ingredients in many things.

[diva77]

2. K&R for exposure

[blogslut]

4. Aren't those all just synthetic lemon flavors?

Correction - synthetic flavors

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Identical at a molecular level to natural flavors and fragrances, not merely imitations thereof. nt

[Different Drummer]

7. Well, dang!

I drink that stuff. Hope it doesn't kill me!

[Blue_true]

10. All the ingredients are naturally occurring.

And people regularly consume all of them in other food and beverage products. The company's labeling is correct, IF, it uses the extracts and not chemical synthesis products. The problem with chemical synthesis products is the impurities that are left behind after purification, natural extracts in theory avoid that problem.

[RandiFan1290]

11. I like San Pellegrino's flavored waters

The Limonata is REALLY good.

[obamanut2012]

12. Wrong and clickbait

And, a nuisance suit from a fiirm known for baseless suits.

It is scents from plants used in many things. Diatomaceous Earth is also an insecticide, and you can literally eat that, and many people do.