Poppi ‘prebiotic soda’ accused of misleading customers on health benefits in new lawsuit

The company behind Poppi, the trendy prebiotic soda, is facing allegations of misleading customers about its “gut health benefits,” a new class-action lawsuit claims.

Poppi is the celebrity-loved beverage brand advertised as a “healthy” alternative to soda, combining “fruit juice, apple cider vinegar, and inulin prebiotics” – a type of dietary fiber that functions as a food course for healthy bacteria in your gut. According to the Texas-based company’s website, Poppi contains 5g of sugar and has 25 calories or less.

However, a lawsuit filed on May 29 in a California district court by plaintiff Kristin Cobbs has claimed that Poppi contains just “two grams of prebiotic fiber, an amount too low to cause meaningful gut health benefits for the consumer from just one can.”

“A consumer would need to drink more than four Poppi sodas in a day to realize any potential health benefits from its prebiotic fiber,” the suit read, according to documents obtained by People. If a customer were to consume more than four drinks per day, the lawsuit stated that Poppi’s “high sugar content would offset most, if not all, of these purported gut health benefits.”

The lawsuit also alleged that the specific type of prebiotic used in Poppi, the dietary fiber agave inulin, can cause “adverse health results” and cited studies on consuming agave inulin. One study claimed that the prebiotic “can lead to inflammation and even liver damage at doses as small as 10 to 30 grams per day over a three-week period.” Another stated that taking as little as 2.5 grams of prebiotic supplements, including agave inulin, can lead to a build-up of gas, causing abdominal discomfort.

“Despite Poppi’s ‘prebiotic’ marketing claims, which assure consumers, on the can, that they can ‘Be Gut Happy (and) Be Gut Healthy,’ as one nutritionist bluntly explained: the products ‘are basically sugared water,’” the complaint read, per USA Today.

Poppi was founded by Allison and Stephen Ellsworth, who featured their drink on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2018. Since finding its way on Amazon – where it’s reportedly become the best-selling soft drink – and on shelves in Whole Foods Market, Poppi sodas now sell for $2.49 a can and nearly $30 for a 12-pack. In 2023, it reported more than $100m in sales.

The filing stated that Cobbs was “unaware that excessive consumption” of Poppi could negatively impact her health. If Cobbs had known about Poppi’s actual prebiotic fiber content, she either “would not have purchased the products or would have paid substantially less for them,” according to the document.

Cobbs – who is suing Poppi’s manufacturer, VNGR Beverage LLC, individually and on behalf of others with similar complaints – is seeking “restitution and all other forms of equitable monetary relief.”

In a statement to The Independent, a representative for Poppi said: “We are proud of the Poppi brand and stand behind our products. We are on a mission to revolutionize soda for the next generation of soda drinkers, and we have diligently innovated to provide a tasting experience that millions of people have come to enjoy. We believe the lawsuit is baseless, and we will vigorously defend against these allegations.”