Poppi, the popular prebiotic soda brand, is not as “gut healthy” as it claims to be, a new class-action lawsuit alleges.
The complaint, filed May 29 on behalf of San Francisco resident Kristin Cobbs, claims “Poppi soda only contains two grams of prebiotic fiber, an amount too low to cause meaningful gut health benefits for the consumer from just one can.”
“Accordingly, 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 — filed in the Northern District of California — further states. “However, even if a consumer were to do this, Poppi’s high sugar content would offset most, if not all, of these purported gut health benefits.”
Poppi’s drinks contain apple cider vinegar, fruit juice and agave inulin, a prebiotic and natural sweetener extracted from the agave tequilana plant. The lawsuit takes issue with the final ingredient, claiming that much of Poppi’s success can be attributed to “agave inulin, the Products’ so-called ‘Prebiotic.’”
In addition to accusing the brand of misleading advertising, the lawsuit claims that Poppi is detrimental to consumers’ health. Citing several scientific studies (including a 2020 study published in the journal Nutrients and a 2023 study published in the journal Microbiome), the suit says consuming too much agave inulin can negatively impact one’s gut flora and lead to immune system disruptions.
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Poppi told Food & Wine that the brand “stand[s] behind our products,” adding that it’s “on a mission to revolutionize soda for the next generation of soda drinkers.”
“We believe the lawsuit is baseless, and we will vigorously defend against these allegations,” the spokesperson said.
