Celsius faces potential class action over ‘healthwashing’ of energy drink products

Celsius, a popular energy drink brand, funded studies that it later cited to market its products as healthy.(CN) — Fitness-focused individuals chasing a caffeine rush might be the ideal target market for Celsius energy drinks.Labels on these fruit-flavored products declare drinking a can of Celsius “accelerates metabolism” and “burns body fat.” On Thursday, a Seattle-area customer sued Celsius Inc., arguing she had been misled and deceived by the company’s advertising and seeking to form a class of similar consumers.Between 2024 and 2026, Annabelle Nielsen bought Celsius drinks and supplement packets online and at retail and convenience stores. In her complaint, she stated she would have purchased a “comparable, lower-priced” product if she hadn’t fallen for Celsius marketing.The King County resident “believed she was purchasing fitness drinks or supplement products that upon consuming, by themselves, would increase her metabolism and burn body fat,” she wrote.Nielsen accuses Celsius Inc., incorporated in Nevada and headquartered in South Florida, of “healthwashing” — using marketing tactics to promote unhealthy products as beneficial to fitness and wellness.The complaint lists 19 specific Celsius products that Nielsen, represented by law firm Hagens Berman, claims were “healthwashed” in this way.The company’s disclaimer that a Celsius drink “does not produce weight loss in the absence of a healthy diet and moderate exercise” was concealed “at the very bottom on the back of the cans and on the back of the packets, in minute lettering that Celsius designed to be missed by consumers,” Nielsen said in her complaint.Celsius is a billion-dollar brand; its parent company, Celsius Holdings Inc., owns other brands like Rockstar Energy and controls about a fifth of the U.S. energy drink market.The company’s website calls Celsius “your ultimate fitness partner,” boasting that title “was earned through research and clinical studies,” of which it cites six. Nielsen’s lawsuit, filed in Seattle federal court, states those studies “were actually solicited and funded by Celsius itself.” The Guardian reported the same in 2024.Nielsen seeks punitive damages and to initiate class-action litigation against the company, accusing Celsius of fraudulent concealment and violation of state consumer protection law.Celsius did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Categories / Courts, HealthSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads