By MaryClaire Dale
PHILADELPHIA (Associated Press) -- Beer lovers across the U.S. have filed $5
million class-action lawsuits accusing Anheuser-Busch of watering down its
Budweiser, Michelob and other brands.
The suits, filed in Pennsylvania, California and other states, claim consumers have been cheated out of the alcohol content stated on labels. Budweiser and Michelob each boast of being 5 percent alcohol, while some "light" versions are said to be just over 4 percent.
The lawsuits are based on information from former employees at the company's 13 U.S. breweries, some in high-level plant positions, according to lead lawyer Josh Boxer of San Rafael.
"Our information comes from former employees at Anheuser-Busch, who have
informed us that as a matter of corporate practice, all of their products
mentioned (in the lawsuit) are watered down," Boxer said. "It's a
simple cost-saving measure, and it's very significant."
The excess water is added just before bottling and cuts the stated alcohol
content by 3 percent to 8 percent, he said.
Anheuser-Busch InBev called the claims "groundless" and said its
beers fully comply with labeling laws. "Our beers are in full compliance
with all alcohol labeling laws. We proudly adhere to the highest standards in
brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the
world," Peter Kraemer, vice president of brewing and supply, said in a
statement.
The suit involves 10 Anheuser-Busch products: Budweiser, Bud Ice, Bud Light
Platinum, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, King Cobra,
Busch Ice, Natural Ice and Bud Light Lime.
Anheuser-Busch, based in St. Louis, Mo., merged with InBev in 2008 to form the
world's largest alcohol producer, headquartered in Belgium. In 2011, the company
produced 22 billion gallons of alcoholic beverages, 3 billion of them in the
U.S., and reported $22 billion in profits, the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, the company has sophisticated equipment that measures
the alcohol content throughout the brewing process and is accurate to within
one-hundredth of a percent. But after the merger, the company increasingly chose
to dilute its popular brands of beer, the lawsuit alleged.
"Following the merger, AB vigorously accelerated the deceptive practices
described below, sacrificing the quality products once produced by
Anheuser-Busch in order to reduce costs," said the lead lawsuit, filed
Friday in federal court in San Francisco on behalf of consumers in the lower 48
states.
Companion suits are being filed this week in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
elsewhere.
The named Pennsylvania plaintiffs, Thomas and Gerald Greenberg of Ambler, said
they buy six cases of the affected Anheuser-Busch products a month. They did not
immediately return a message Tuesday, and Boxer would not elaborate on their
purchases except to say the consumer-protection suit does not involve retailers
or bar owners.
One of the California plaintiffs, Nina Giampaoli of Sonoma County, said she
bought a six-pack of Budweiser every week for the past four years.
"I think it's wrong for huge corporations to lie to their loyal customers
-- I really feel cheated. No matter what the product is, people should be able
to rely on the information companies put on their labels," Giampaoli said
in a news release issued by Boxer's law firm.
Bloomberg News first reported Tuesday on the lawsuits.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Boxer said he has evidence
to corroborate the former employees' allegations, but stopped short of saying
the beers had been independently tested.
"AB (Anheuser-Busch) never intends for the malt beverage to possess the
amount of alcohol that is stated on the label. As a result, AB's customers are
overcharged for watered-down beer and AB is unjustly enriched by the additional
volume it can sell," the lawsuit said.
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