© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(March 2) — Upset Texan beer lovers are joining drinkers in other states on a rampage against Anheuser-Busch Companies.
A Texas resident filed a class-action lawsuit against the alcoholic beverage giant Thursday on claims that the company is watering down several of its popular beer products by labeling a higher alcohol content than there actually is.
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Texas, identifies popular brands such as Budweiser, Michelob Ultra and Bud Light Lime as being mislabeled.
Dallas class-action lawyer Robert Mandel of Lackey Hershman is representing the plaintiffs in the case. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
J. Russell Jackson of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York is representing Anheuser-Busch in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff has purchased approximately one six-pack or 12-pack of Bud Light Platinum, Bud Light Lime or Michelob Ultra per month during the past four years. When the plaintiff bought Bud Light Platinum, he specifically did so because of the higher alcohol content, the lawsuit says.
The class-action is seeking damages that exceed $5 million, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit states that Anheuser-Busch began using in-line alcohol measuring instrumentation (Anton Paar meters) sometime before 2008, which allows the company to measure the alcohol content of malt beverages within hundredths of one percent.
The complaint alleges that Anheuser-Busch does not use this precision technology and instead waters down its products during the final stage of processing before the products are packaged.
According to the lawsuit, there are no economic, practical or legal impediments to Anheuser-Busch for accurately labeling its products to reflect their true alcohol content.
“AB never intends for all these malt beverages to possess the amount of alcohol that is stated on the label,” the complaint says. “As a result, AB’s customers are overcharged for watered-down beer and AB is unjustly enriched by the additional volume of beer it can sell.”
Drinkers in other states such as California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have filed similar suits this week.
Texas’ case is suing Anheuser-Busch for breach of warranty and on claims that the company has violated the Texas Deceptive Practices – Consumer Protection Act (DTPA).
California plaintiffs’ attorney Josh Boxer told Bloomberg News, which first reported on the lawsuits on Tuesday, that adding water to the brewing process cuts the stated alcohol content by 3 to 8 percent.
St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch merged with InBev in 2008 to form the world’s largest alcohol producer, headquartered in Belgium. In 2011, the global production exceeded 10 billion gallons of malt beverages and generated more than $22 million in gross profits, the lawsuit says.
Anheuser-Busch issued a statement on its website on Wednesday.
“The claims against Anheuser-Busch are completely false, and these lawsuits are groundless,” Peter Kraemer, the company’s vice president of brewing and supply said in the statement. “Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws. We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world.”
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