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PepsiCo, Inc. is an American food and beverage corporation.
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1898-08-28 |
| Legal Structure | Public |
| Industry | Beverage, Food processing |
| Also known as | |
| Official website | https://www.pepsico.com |
Consumer impact summary
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Incidents
editThis is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the PepsiCo category.
Pepsi runs misleading advertising campaign to give away a Harrier II jet (1996)
editIn March 1996, Pepsi began the "Pepsi Stuff" advertising campaign which claimed that you could redeem "Pepsi Points" for a variety of things including and up to a Harrier II jet. When John Leonard produced enough points to purchase the jet, they refused on the grounds that it was not intended to be taken seriously. Leonard chose to pursue a lengthy legal campaign against Pepsi for the alleged false advertising (see Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc.).
Multiple similar campaigns were performed outside of the United States, with similar results, as outlined in the "Pepsi, Where's My Jet?" docuseries on Netflix.
PepsiCo exposes customers to lead without prior knowledge (2006)
editOn 21 April 2006, the California state government announced that PepsiCo was agreeing to a consent judgment over claims of violating the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, alleging that Mexico Pepsi and West Jefferson Mountain Dew had failed to warn Californian consumers that their products contained lead and cadmium.[1][2]
Hiding how much carcinogenic food coloring in products (2014—2016)
editThamar Santisteban Cortina separately sued Pepsico and Goya Foods in January 2014 over the products Pepsi, Pepsi One, and Diet Pepsi, allegedly containing excessive amount of 4-methylimidazole (which can cause severe health risks like cancer) without properly informing consumers.[3][4][5]
PepsiCo's motion for a change of venue to the Northern District of California (from Southern) was granted 30 April 2014.[6] It was consolidated with Sciortino v. Pepsico, Inc. on 20 June 2014.[7] A class action settlement was granted final approval on 30 August 2016.[8]
PepsiCo and Walmart sued by FTC for rigging soft drink prices (2025)
editOn 17 January 2025, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo and Walmart for violating the Robinson-Patman Act by allegedly allowing Walmart to sell Pepsi products at lower prices than its competitors.[9][10][11]
The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice by the FTC in a 3-0 vote on 22 May 2025, with FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson reasoning that "the Biden-Harris FTC rushed to authorize this case just three days before President Trump's inauguration in a nakedly political effort to commit this administration to pursuing little more than a hunch that Pepsi had violated the law."[12]
Lawsuit accuses PepsiCo and Coca-Cola of running campaigns lying about environmental benefits to consumers (2024)
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On 29 October 2024, Los Angeles County in California filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo and Coca-Cola on 2024 over misleading consumers with a disinformation campaign designed to make consumers believe that their products are environmental friendly — in particular single-use plastic bottles and the efficacy of recycling them.[13][14] [15]
The case was removed from Los Angeles Superior Court to the Central District of California on 2 December 2024,[16] before eventually being remanded back to Superior Court on 14 March 2025.[17] Its current status is unknown as of 17 May 2026.
Products
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See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "Attorney General Lockyer Announces Multi-Million Dollar Settlement With Pepsi to Eliminate Lead in Mexican Bottles". California Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General. 21 Apr 2006. Archived from the original on 13 Jun 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Lockyer, Bill (18 July 2006). "People Of The State Of Ca et al v. Pepsico Inc, Case No. BC351120" (PDF). California Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 Dec 2025. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Clark, Simon (27 Jun 2017). "Pepsi, Goya Accused of Hiding Levels of Potentially Dangerous Caramel Color". Classaction. Archived from the original on 21 Mar 2026. Retrieved 5 Mar 2026.
- ↑ Antell, Amanda (29 Jan 2014). "Class Action Says Pepsi, Malta Goya Contain Cancer-Causing Chemical". Top Class Actions. Archived from the original on 21 Mar 2026. Retrieved 5 Mar 2026.
- ↑ Warmerdam, Elizabeth (28 Jan 2014). "Class Claims Pepsi Contains Carcinogen". Courthouse News Service. Archived from the original on 21 Mar 2026. Retrieved 5 Mar 2026.
- ↑ Miller, Jeffrey T. (30 Apr 2014). "Cortina v. Pepsico, Inc. (3:14-cv-00168)". PacerMonitor. Archived from the original on 17 May 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Chen, Edward M. (20 Jun 2014). "Cortina v. Pepsico, Inc. (4:14-cv-02023)". PacerMonitor. Archived from the original on 17 May 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Chen, Edward M. (30 Aug 2016). "Sciortino v. Pepsico, Inc. (3:14-cv-00478)". Court Listener. Archived from the original on 17 May 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- ↑ "FTC Sues PepsiCo for Rigging Soft Drink Competition". Federal Trade Commission. 17 Jan 2025. Archived from the original on 17 Jan 2025. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Schweizer, Errol (18 Dec 2025). "How Walmart And Pepsico Rigged Prices And Supercharged Food Inflation". Forbes. Archived from the original on 21 Mar 2026. Retrieved 5 Mar 2026.
- ↑ Wood, James R. (17 Dec 2025). "Walmart, Pepsi accused of manipulating prices". Consumer Affairs. Archived from the original on 16 Feb 2026. Retrieved 21 Mar 2026.
- ↑ "FTC Dismisses Lawsuit Against PepsiCo". Federal Trade Commission. 22 May 2025. Archived from the original on 23 May 2025. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Harrison, Dawyn R.; Kuhn, Scott (29 Oct 2024). "Los Angeles County v PepsiCo, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company, et al (Case No. 24STCV28450)" (PDF). County of Los Angeles. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
- ↑ "LA County Sues Pepsi and Coca-Cola over Plastic Beverage Pollution and Deceiving Public on Plastic Recycling". County of Los Angeles. 30 Oct 2024. Archived from the original on 3 Nov 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
- ↑ Edwards, Jessy (8 Nov 2024). "Pepsi, Coca-Cola untruthful about about single-use plastic waste, lawsuit claims". Top Class Actions. Archived from the original on 21 Mar 2026. Retrieved 5 Mar 2026.
- ↑ "The People of the State of California v. PepsiCo, Inc. (2:24-cv-10340)". Court Listener. 2 Dec 2024. Archived from the original on 17 May 2026. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
- ↑ Wu, George H. (14 Mar 2025). "The People of the State of California v. PepsiCo, Inc. (2:24-cv-10340)". Court Listener. Archived from the original on 17 May 2026. Retrieved 17 May 2026.