Jelly Bean Deception Why Jelly Belly Got Sued for Using Sugar
Some Are Amazing — Others Are a Little Bizarre It might surprise some people that construction laws vary throughout the U.S. — you simply can’t start building in a different state and expect the rules to be the same in yours. While there are lots of technical details to these differences, there are also very unique, interesting differences! Here’s some of the most interesting ones. NO. 1: MAKE IT ARTSY In Wyoming, all new public buildings that cost over $100,000 to build must dedicate at least 1% of the total cost on public art for the building. If a building’s budget is a million dollars, that leaves $10,000 to be spent on public art. This is certainly a great way of supporting local artists and the state’s art scene. NO. 2: THE BEST NY LAW FOR WORKERS SAFETY In 1885, New York passed the Scaffold Law, which provides that whenever a construction worker is injured on a job site while using scaffolding or a ladder, it’s the contractor’s burden to prove that the job site was safe. This law has survived many challenges and is designed to ensure that developers are held accountable for keeping construction sites safe. NO. 3: THE BATHTUB MUST NOT HAVE FEET, UNLESS … Strangely enough, there are specific laws referring to feet on a bathtub. In Kansas City, Missouri, a city ordinance prohibits the construction of bathtubs with four legs resembling animal paws. In Minnesota, however, a state law requires that all bathtubs have feet. NO. 4: A HISTORY-FOCUSED HOA When you visit certain old towns, the consistent, old-timey charm may impress you. However, sometimes, there’s a good amount of work that went into that. To paint your house on Main Street in Hingham, Massachusetts, the colors you choose must first be approved by the historical society. Also, your house may only have white lights — colored lights are strictly prohibited. NO. 5: DON’T TOUCH THE CACTUS If you’re building in Arizona, you better hope there isn’t a saguaro cactus on your land. Saguaro cacti can only be removed if it’s on privately owned land, the protected cactus hasn’t been taken off the land or offered for sale, and the state was notified of intended destruction 20–60 days before the plants were destroyed. If these rules aren’t followed, you may receive up to 25 years in prison. Some of these might seem extreme, but we think we can all agree: The relative autonomy and freedom of states to set their own laws certainly makes the United States a very interesting place! 5 UNIQUE CONSTRUCTION LAWS
Before Bang and other creatine energy drinks became all the rage, many companies tried their hand at candy designed to energize. Not wanting to miss out on the action, Jelly Belly developed Sports Beans. Like most other energy supplements, Sports Beans contained electrolytes, carbohydrates, and a plethora of B vitamins. They also included the phrase “evaporated cane juice” as one of the ingredients — but this got them into some legal trouble. A woman named Jessica Gomez filed a case against Jelly Belly in 2017 over this ingredient. She claimed the company had falsely advertised their Sports Beans by stating they contained juice instead of sugar. Gomez believed the company portrayed that the beans were healthy by trying to appeal to athletes instead of stating that the product contained sugar. Her complaint argued that the product’s label was designed to mislead consumers, asserting that she would not have been willing to pay as much or at all for the product if she knew it contained sugar. Jelly Belly responded, calling the lawsuit complete nonsense. They pointed out that evaporated cane juice and sugar are interchangeable terms and also cited the product’s nutritional chart which showed that each serving contained 17 grams of sugar. Jelly Belly further picked apart the claim by stating that Gomez did not insist on expecting a sugar-free product, and she did not explain why anyone would be surprised to find sugar in a product described as jelly beans. This is not the first lawsuit against a company for using an alternative term for sugar. Though the Food and Drug Administration does not have any legal requirements regarding “evaporated cane juice,” it recommends calling the ingredient sugar to avoid these instances.
The courts ended up siding with Jelly Belly, as Gomez failed to show any facts specific to the purchase or the advertising of the product.
False advertising and deceptive practices do happen, but this case was not one of those instances. If Gomez had paid attention to the nutritional chart, this entire lawsuit could have been avoided.
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