A class action lawsuit has targeted The Wonderful Company, sellers of Fiji brand bottled waters, claiming the company has violated state consumer fraud laws by claiming its bottled water contains "natural artisan water," while it also allegedly contains microplastics.
On Jan. 18, attorneys from the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman P.C., of Northbrook and Woodland Hills, California, filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against Los Angeles-based The Wonderful Company.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiff John Daly, identified as a resident of Chicago.
The lawsuit claims the company, which sells the Fiji brand bottled water, misled consumers into believing their products were pure water from natural sources. The lawsuit claims sampling has revealed the water also contains microplastics, which the complaint defines as "small sized plastic particles that originate from manufacturing and physical degradation of plastics" that "encompass a variety of different molecules with different structures, shapes, sizes, and polymers."
The lawsuit claims such microplastics harm the human circulatory system and allegedly accumulate in organs, including the kidneys, digestive organs and the liver, leading to an alleged array of illnesses and maladies.
The lawsuit claims the Fiji brand labels amount to violations of Illinois' consumer fraud law, among other alleged counts,
The lawsuit seeks to include a class of plaintiffs that would include everyone who has purchased Fiji brand bottled water in the past five years.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, plus attorney fees.
Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Todd M. Friedman and Steve G. Perry, of the Friedman firm.