FDA Green Tea Warning to Lipton, Canada Dry

By: Rob Adams
Staff Writer
Published: Sep 9, 2021

FDA Green Tea warning letters sent to Canada Dry and Lipton over unproven health claims in ads.

FDA Green Tea warning to Lipton, Canada Dry. The FDA warns that the makers of Canada Dry ginger ale and Lipton green tea were issued warning letters. The Green Tea makers are advertising unproven health claims, according to the FDA.

The FDA letters were about the companies making unproven health claims for unsubstantiated nutritional claims about their green tea-flavored beverages. The FDA takes issue with the, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which labels Canada Dry Sparkling Green Tea Ginger Ale. They stated that soda has no right to carry the claim that the drink is "enhanced with 200 mg of antioxidants from green tea and vitamin C" on its can, because the ingredients in the soda "are not nutrients with recognized antioxidant activity."

In the letter to Unilever, the makers of Lipton, the FDA takes issue with the company's website that mentions four studies that showed a cholesterol-lowering effect with tea. The federal agency states that the labeling is misleading because it suggests Lipton tea is designed to treat or prevent disease. In addition, the agency cites antioxidant labeling claims on the company's Lipton Green Tea, which do not follow U.S. federal guidelines.

Lipton Green Tea made a health claim by linking consumption of green tea to lower cholesterol for persons at risk for heart disease. Making that kind of health claim makes the Lipton green tea a drug, subject to requirements for of proving safety and effectiveness, the FDA stated to Unilever. Executives from both companies are expected to respond to the citations within 15 days and to outline their plans for addressing the problems.