A massive class action lawsuit has been filed against Nestle, but moreover, Poland Spring recently. The case is so large, its class period dates back to November 5, 2003. The Poland Spring Class Action alleges that, for more than twenty years, Nestle Waters’ marketing and sales of Poland Spring Water has been a colossal fraud perpetrated against American consumers. To consumers, “spring water” from a naturally occurring spring signifies purity and high quality and commands a premium price compared to Defendant’s non-spring drinking water products or filtered tap water. To illicitly capture that premium, Defendant, since it began selling the Poland Spring brand in 1993, has bottled common groundwater and illegally mislabeled it as “100% Natural Spring Water.” However, the Poland Spring class action lawsuit goes on to state that there is not one drop of the water that comes from a source that complies with the FDA's definition of spring water. Rather than being “100% Natural Spring Water” as Defendant’s labels advertise, and rather than being collected from pristine mountain or forest springs as the images on those labels depict, Poland Spring Water products all contain ordinary ground water that Defendant collects from wells it drilled in saturated plains or valleys where the water table is within a few feet of the earth’s surface. The vast bulk of that groundwater is collected from Maine’s most populous counties in southwestern Maine, only a short distance from the New Hampshire border. These artificial, man-made, “springs” do not satisfy FDA standards. Genuine springs must have a “natural orifice” through which water “flows naturally” to the surface, without human assistance. By faking the existence of springs, Defendant is defrauding its consumers. A full copy of the complaint is embedded below for your convenience. To note, it is quite lengthy, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail us at ConsiderTheConsumer@gmail.com! To note, it is quite lengthy, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail us at ConsiderTheConsumer@gmail.com! Being that this lawsuit is so broad and stretches back so many years you are likely to be included in the projected class. We ask that if you have been affected by the allegations in the complaint, that you contact us immediately on our complaint page, or via email at considertheconsumer@gmail.com. In doing so, we will help you with your next steps, while seeking your consumer protection.

Editor’s note:

This piece is written about a class-action lawsuit. If you are considered eligible to be among the class of consumers described in the suit, you may eventually be able to participate in receiving any compensation the court may award. If you have any questions concerning this process or wish to speak with a law firm that has either filed or intends to handle this matter, please feel free to contact us via email at ConsiderTheConsumer@gmail.com.

Update

Shortly after this article was published, a spokesperson for Nestlé Waters North America reached out to us to give a statement regarding the company and the allegations against it. These statements are available here.