What’s in – or not in – those fruity drinks from Starbucks anyway?

By Chloe Adams

October 3, 2023

With each sip Ava Ekholdt took of her Starbucks Strawberry Acai Refresher, floating freeze-dried strawberry pieces swirled around the pink beverage she called “a treat.”

After a recent lawsuit against the coffee-giant called attention to how fruity Refreshers do not contain real fruit, Ekholdt, a sophomore data science major at Boston University, was one of a number of Starbucks customers on campus Tuesday who already assumed these drinks lacked natural ingredients.

“I definitely think it’s dishonest, but I also think that a lot of other restaurants and companies are also doing that,” said Ekholdt. “Sometimes I don't think that the smoothie mixes are actually real at local acai bowl places.”

The class-action complaint was originally filed in August 2022 in a New York court by a plaintiff who claimed Starbucks engaged in “false and deceptive marketing and sale” of Refreshers by leading customers to believe these beverages consisted of their advertised fruits.

The complaint argued, while “hot chocolate contains cocoa, its matcha lattes contain matcha and its honey mint tea contains honey and mint,” customers would expect Refreshers, with names like Pineapple Passionfruit or Mango Dragonfruit Refreshers, to also contain these ingredients.

Forty-two people responded to an Instagram poll with the question, “Do Starbucks Refreshers contain real fruit?” Out of this sample, 57% said no, 26% said yes and 17% said they were unsure. The results showed a higher number of people knew the truth about Refreshers than those who did not.

The main ingredients in these beverages — water, grape juice concentrate and sugar — also did not seem to take Lulu November, a BU senior education major, by surprise.

Like Ekholdt, November said she already presumed Refreshers did not contain fruit but would feel misled if Starbucks put more emphasis on promoting false information.

“If they were really honing in on the drinks being a healthier and more fresh option, like with the Celsius drinks and stuff, then I think that’s misleading,” said November. “In all honesty, I’m not going to Starbucks for the health benefits.”

Ngoye Diop, a freshman computer engineering major at BU, said these advertisements are misleading for those who look to consume the fruits featured in the names of the drinks.

“Knowing that the drinks don’t contain the fruits people want will probably stop them from drinking it, and if someone only drinks Refreshers, that might even stop them from going to Starbucks,” said Diop. “If you’re going to market something like this, you should tell consumers more clearly what’s in the actual drink.”

Back in 2020, a New York lawyer filed a lawsuit against businesses that market their products as “vanilla” even when they actually contain artificial flavoring. In recent years, complaints have also been made against fast food companies whose advertised images misrepresent the reality of those foods, according to a 2023 CNN article.

The United States Federal Trade Commission manages the Truth in Advertising Laws to protect consumers from deceptive advertisements.

Mitchell Katz, public affairs specialist for the FTC, said, although the Starbucks situation falls within the agency’s jurisdiction, they have not announced any investigation into the coffee company.

“We’re not the type of agency that brings a case against Subway because their footlong sub is only 11 inches long,” said Katz.

The FTC also examines consumer perception to determine whether or not an advertisement would be deceptive to the average person.

“One line is the truth, and one line is not the truth,” said Katz. “It’s our job to watch the people that are closest to that line and make sure that they don’t step over it into the not-truth.”

Starbucks has not responded upon reaching out to them.