On February 23, 2024, our firm filed an application for authorization to institute a class action against 15 manufacturers of beverages containing the terms “alcohol-free” or “non-alcoholic”. The purpose of this claim is to recover damages for all consumers who purchased these products manufactured by the defendants.
The story of our clients
Ms. Parent has been suffering from alcohol problems for several years. In 2023, she decided to confront this problem and began an arduous withdrawal period.
As a substitute, she began consuming carbonated water as well as various “non-alcoholic” products of the defendants on special occasions.
In January 2024, she learned that several of these drinks advertised as “alcohol-free” actually contained alcohol, albeit in small amounts, 0.5% or less. Indeed, it was while inspecting the packaging of a can of Romeo’s Gin that was offered to her that she learned that the drink was not really “alcohol-free” and that it actually contained 0.5% alcohol. She therefore refrained from consuming this beverage.
Following this discovery, Ms. Parent further investigated the commercial practice of marketing a product containing 0.5% or less alcohol as “alcohol-free” and noted its prevalence in the industry. She also understood that she had in fact been drinking alcohol without her knowledge since the beginning of her sobriety.
As for Ms. Zhen, she is a new mom who recently made the choice to reduce alcohol consumption to almost zero, after discovering that alcohol consumption carries several major health risks, including the risk of developing cancers, including breast cancer in women.
In February 2024, she was attracted by “alcohol-free” products offered at her grocery store and bought two cans of the alcohol-free brand Atypique and two cans of the alcohol-free Boréale Hors Sentier.
However, it subsequently found that the two Boréale cans indicate, in small letters, that the drink contained “less than 0.5% alcohol”. She However, he manages to reconcile these two statements by saying that a rate of 0% is indeed less than 0.5%.
Nevertheless, she began researching online to confirm whether or not her drinks contained alcohol and learned that while Atypique products really contain 0% alcohol, Boréale Hors Sentiers products contain up to 0.5%.
Our clients feel betrayed and cheated by this practice and have decided to launch this class action because they believe that Quebecers have the right to know the alcohol content of the products they are tempted to buy.
Breaches of the Consumer Protection Act
In Quebec, the Alcoholic Beverages Offences Act provides that a beverage containing less than 0.5% alcohol is not considered an “alcoholic beverage”. However, this law does not define the terms “alcohol-free” or “non-alcoholic”. Rather, these terms are defined in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s labelling requirements as being used to describe a product with an alcohol content of less than 0.05%.
As manufacturers, the defendants may not misrepresent a consumer or falsely assign a size, weight, measure or volume to a good.
All of the beverages covered by this class action are advertised by the defendants as “alcohol-free” or “non-alcoholic”. However, this portrayal misleads Quebec consumers, because the general impression given is that these beverages do not contain any alcohol, but they do in fact contain alcohol, albeit in small amounts, as recognized on product labels.
The class action
As a result of the defendants’ lack of transparency, our firm’s proposed class action alleges that consumers were victims of false or misleading representations.
We estimate that this prohibited practice has affected several hundred thousand, if not millions, of consumers in Quebec.
Thus, we are claiming on behalf of our representatives and all class members, damages as well as punitive damages in order to sanction the lax and reckless behaviour of the defendants.
The proposed class
All natural persons residing in Québec who, since February 26, 2021, have purchased one of the following beverages marked “non-alcoholic” or “non-alcoholic” when they contained alcohol:
- Non-alcoholic beer IPA
- Tropical Sour Non-Alcoholic Beer
- Raspberry Alcohol-Free Beer
- Alcohol-Free Beer Lime Lemon
- Non-alcoholic Bluff Margarita
- Bluff Non-Alcoholic Gin
- Bluff Non-Alcoholic Gin & Tonic
- Non-alcoholic Mojito Bluff
- Bluff Non-Alcoholic Dark Rum
- Boréale Off-Trails Non-Alcoholic IPA
- Boréale Off-Trails Radler Alcohol-Free
- Boréale Hors Sentiers Rousse Alcohol-Free
- Boreal Off-Trails Safe Alcohol-Free
- Montreal Normanville Brewer Non-Alcoholic
- Montreal Brewer Little Burgundy Non-Alcoholic
- Brewer of Montreal Griffintown non-alcoholic
- Montreal Brewer L’Amer IPA Non-Alcoholic
- Beautiful Face India Pale Lager Alcohol-Free
- Beautiful Mouth Blonde Alcohol-Free
- Coors Edge Alcohol-Free
- Fresh Peach Placebo
- Redhead Placebo
- Raspberry Placebo
- Placebo Red Mandarin Lemon
- Blonde Lemon Lime Placebo
- Simple of the same tart blonde without alcohol
- Simple of the same redhead without alcohol
- Simple of the same non-alcoholic blackcurrant sour wheat beer
- The Malted Way The Reasonable Redhead
- La Voie Maltée La Reasonable, wheat beer
- The Malted Way The Reasonable IPA
- The Malted Way The Reasonable Sour
- The Bockale Aurora
- The Perseverance Bockale
- The Meteorite Bockale
- The Berliner jar rings
- The Bockale The Discovery
- The Bockale Tropic non alc.
- The Bockale Cream ale non alc.
- The Bockale IPA non alc.
- The Bockale Sour non alc.
- The Bockale Lager non alc.
- Black Clover Gosebuster non-alcoholic
- Black Clover Wisdom IPA non-alcoholic
- St-Ambroise India Pale Ale Non-Alcoholic
- Romeo’s non-alcoholic gin
- Oshlag Blonde Alcohol-Free
- Oshlag White Alcohol-Free
- Sober Carpenter Raspberry Sour
- Sober Carpenter West Coast IPA
- Sober Carpenter Irish Red Ale
- Sober Carpenter Blonde Ale
- Sober Carpenter Black IPA
- Sober Carpenter White Wheat Beer
- Sober Carpenter Organic Session IPA
- Sober Carpenter White
- Sober Carpenter Craft Cider
Applications lodged with the Court
Application for authorization to bring a class action (French)
Current status of the file
Pending authorization by a judge of the Superior Court.
To read the judgment authorizing discontinuance against the defendants Jesemi and Host, click here.
How to be part of the class action?
If you fall within the definition of the group referred to above, you are automatically part of this class action.
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