Starbucks faces lawsuit over sugar content in protein drinks

Starbucks is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit in federal court in Washington state regarding the labeling of its sugar-free protein beverages. The lawsuit, filed on October 2 by consumers in California, New York, and Washington, alleges that certain products—including Sugar-Free Vanilla Protein Lattes, Sugar-Free Caramel Protein Lattes, and protein matcha drinks—contain significant amounts of sugar.

According to the filing, venti-sized servings of these beverages contain between 13 and 21 grams of sugar. The plaintiffs argue that no reasonable consumer would expect a product labeled as ‘sugar-free’ to contain such levels. The suit seeks to prevent the company from using the ‘sugar-free’ descriptor for products containing sugar.

Starbucks has disputed the allegations, stating the claims have ‘no merit.’ A company spokesperson noted that Starbucks provides nutritional information across its menus, website, and app. The company maintains that while it uses sugar-free syrups for flavoring, the sugar content in these specific protein beverages comes naturally from protein-boosted milk rather than added sugar.