Poppi prebiotic soda isn’t as healthy as you think, lawsuit claims

If you are a die-hard Poppi fan, we have bad news for you. A company that produces a trendy prebiotic drink is facing a class action lawsuit alleging that the brand misled customers about its health benefits.

According to the brand’s website, Poppi bills itself as a “healthy” soda combining fruit juice, apple cider vinegar and inulin prebiotics, a dietary fiber that can serve as food for healthy gut bacteria. The company also counts A-listers such as Kylie Jenner, Hailey Bieber and Post Malone as fans of their products, and this star power has contributed to the popularity of their drink.

However, the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in California by plaintiff Kristin Cobbs claims that each can of Poppi contains only two grams of prebiotic fiber, which is not enough to provide any real health benefits.

“A consumer would have to drink more than four Poppi sodas per day to experience the potential health benefits of the prebiotic fiber,” the lawsuit says. “However, even if the consumer did so, the high sugar content in Poppi would offset most, if not all, of the purported gut health benefits.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Poppi fails to warn customers about any health risks from consuming agave inulin. Medical research cited in the document indicates that an inulin-based diet “can lead to inflammation and even liver damage at doses as low as 10 to 30 grams per day for a period of 3 weeks.” One dietitian quoted in the lawsuit went so far as to say that Poppi is “basically sweetened water.”

Since its appearance Shark Tank in 2018, the now popular Poppi soda costs $2.49 a can, and a 12-pack costs almost $30. The lawsuit says Cobbs did not realize that drinking multiple cans would have a negative impact on her health. If she had known, “she either wouldn’t have bought these products or would have paid much less for them.”

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