Starbucks' own menu lists up to 21 grams of sugar in a protein drink it calls sugar-free

Starbucks' own website shows the plaintiffs' central point. On Monday the company's US menu listed the 20-ounce Sugar-Free Caramel Protein Matcha at 21 grams of sugar and the 16-ounce size at 16 grams ^[8]. A Reese's peanut butter cup has 11 grams ^[9]. The larger drink holds 10 grams more than the candy, close to two cups' worth ^[14].

Starbucks' answer is on the same site. According to ABC News, the page marketed the drinks as "sugar-free" and also stated the sugar in each beverage and that they were made without added sugar ^[5]. "We believe these claims have no merit," a Starbucks spokesperson said. The spokesperson said the company "has consistently and clearly provided information about its protein beverages, sugar-free options, customization choices and nutritional content" across its menus, website and app, and added, "we intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this matter" ^[7].

Steve Berman, a co-founder and managing partner of Hagens Berman, made the case for the buyers. "Consumers avoid sugar for various reasons, whether that be general health, diabetes and blood glucose levels or other factors, and for many, a staunch mislabeling like this is significant," he said ^[6]. The ABC report does not say which federal labeling rule the complaint relies on, or what sugar level that rule allows under a "sugar-free" name.

A skeptic of the suit would make Starbucks' argument: a buyer who read the page had the gram count. A rival's menu shows another way to name a similar drink. Dutch Bros sells its lower-sugar caramel protein latte as the Hopscotch Zero Sugar Added Protein Latte, a name that describes the recipe ^[12]. Starbucks' name makes a claim about the finished cup. The 16-ounce iced Dutch Bros drink has 7 grams of sugar and 11 grams of protein ^[12]. Starbucks' iced Sugar-Free Caramel Protein Latte at the same 16-ounce size carries 29 grams of protein and 9 grams of sugar ^[13]. That is 2 grams more sugar and about 2.6 times the protein ^[15]. Per gram of protein, the Dutch Bros drink carries roughly twice the sugar ^[16].

The two drinks are close on composition, so Starbucks' exposure sits in the wording. That is also where its decision for this quarter sits. If Starbucks renames the line while the suit is pending, the plaintiffs get the order they asked for before a judge has ruled on it ^[10]. If it keeps the name, every further sale goes to the kind of buyer the suit says it represents. The spokesperson's statement points to the second course ^[7]. We do not know yet whether a court will treat a printed gram count as an answer to a product name. The complaint was filed late Friday ^[1].