{"id":2931,"date":"2026-04-25T16:15:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T15:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/?p=2931"},"modified":"2026-04-25T16:15:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T15:15:25","slug":"trader-joes-sued-over-coffee-with-allegedly-low-caffeine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/?p=2931","title":{"rendered":"Trader Joe\u2019s Sued Over Coffee With Allegedly Low Caffeine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-journey-body=\"standard-article\">\n<div class=\"css-hl6xtf e1wzc3k51\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.delish.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/clock-regular.4ddebeb.svg\" alt=\"Estimated read time\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><span class=\"css-1rzbsk9 e1wzc3k50\">2 min read<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1jx1kps etlajd3\">\n<div data-theme-key=\"collapsible-section\" class=\"css-p1fz9n e1q3dcg6\">\n<h3 data-theme-key=\"collapsible-header\" class=\"css-1fv4nwp e1q3dcg5\"><button aria-label=\"Hide Key Points section\" aria-expanded=\"true\" data-theme-key=\"collapsible-header-button\" class=\"css-ec8vqf e1q3dcg4\"><\/p>\n<div data-theme-key=\"collapsible-icon-wrapper\" data-collapsible-open=\"true\" class=\"css-lhm19 e1q3dcg0\"><span data-testid=\"iconRight\" data-theme-key=\"collapsible-icon-right\" class=\"css-1ep4808 e1q3dcg1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.delish.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/caret-right-regular.a6ec664.svg\" alt=\"Caret Right\" width=\"100%\" height=\"auto\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/h3>\n<div aria-hidden=\"false\" data-theme-key=\"collapsible-section-text\" class=\"css-nzvxqj e1q3dcg3\">\n<div class=\"css-ex91la etlajd2\">\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Trader Joe\u2019s is facing a lawsuit over claims that its French Roast Low Acid coffee contains far less caffeine than customers expected.<\/li>\n<li>Plaintiffs say testing found the coffee had about half the caffeine of Trader Joe\u2019s regular blends.<\/li>\n<li>The lawsuit accuses the company of misleading marketing and seeks damages plus changes to how the product is sold.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"0\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">I need caffeine injected into my veins most mornings, so if I found out the coffee I bought had way less of it than promised, I\u2019d want answers.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"1\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">That seems to be the thinking behind a new lawsuit filed against Trader Joe\u2019s, which accuses the chain of selling a coffee that looks like a standard fully caffeinated blend but allegedly delivers something much closer to a half-caff experience. The product at the center is Trader Joe\u2019s French Roast Low Acid whole bean coffee, which several customers from California, New York, and Illinois claim contains significantly less caffeine than they expected.<\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"editorial-link\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-22\" data-node-id=\"2\" class=\"embed\">\n<aside class=\"css-1fm2v8u e94w1mj13\">\n<h2 class=\"css-1xumt3f e94w1mj11\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" data-theme-key=\"title-design-element-before\" class=\"css-0 e68yk9k0\"\/><span class=\"css-0 e94w1mj10\">Related Story<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\" data-theme-key=\"title-design-element-after\" class=\"css-0 e68yk9k1\"\/><\/h2>\n<\/aside>\n<\/section>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"3\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">According to the complaint, testing found that the coffee contains about half the caffeine of a regular blend. The suit says the product has 51 percent of the caffeine of Trader Joe\u2019s Dark French Roast coffee and 45 percent of the caffeine of Trader Joe\u2019s House Blend coffee. It also claims the French Roast Low Acid coffee tested even lower than some half-caff products sold by other brands, including Folgers and Puroast.<\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"watch-next\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-23\" data-node-id=\"4\" class=\"embed\"\/>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"5\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">The plaintiffs say that in the coffee world, reduced-caffeine products are usually labeled as such, whether that means decaf or half-caff. Regular coffee, on the other hand, doesn\u2019t need a special label announcing that it is fully caffeinated.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"6\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">As the suit puts it, \u201cfull caffeinated coffee does not have any special labeling denoting that it is fully caffeinated, but \u2018decaf\u2019 and \u2018half-caff\u2019 coffees are labeled as such.\u201d In this case, the plaintiffs argue that Trader Joe\u2019s did not disclose that the product was allegedly functioning more like a reduced-caffeine option.<\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"body-image\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-24\" data-node-id=\"7\" class=\"embed\">\n<div size=\"large\" data-embed=\"body-image\" class=\"align-center size-large embed css-13f5bxj e1fodxfw4\">\n<div class=\"css-1k29q50 e1fodxfw3\"><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"Coffee canister labeled French Roast by Trader Joe's.\" title=\"Coffee canister labeled French Roast by Trader Joe's.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1228\" height=\"826\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/849d27bd-fa16-4ea9-b5e8-20d8c9bffe3d.png?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&amp;resize=768:* 640w, https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/849d27bd-fa16-4ea9-b5e8-20d8c9bffe3d.png?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&amp;resize=768:* 980w, https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/849d27bd-fa16-4ea9-b5e8-20d8c9bffe3d.png?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&amp;resize=980:* 1120w, https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/849d27bd-fa16-4ea9-b5e8-20d8c9bffe3d.png?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&amp;resize=980:* 1400w, https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/849d27bd-fa16-4ea9-b5e8-20d8c9bffe3d.png?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&amp;resize=980:* 1800w, https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/849d27bd-fa16-4ea9-b5e8-20d8c9bffe3d.png?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&amp;resize=980:* 2000w\" src=\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/849d27bd-fa16-4ea9-b5e8-20d8c9bffe3d.png?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&amp;resize=980:*\" class=\"css-0 e1g79fud0\"\/><\/p>\n<p><figcaption data-theme-key=\"photo-credit-figcaption\" class=\"css-1am3yn9 e1g9hcy40\"><span data-theme-key=\"photo-credit-creditor\" class=\"css-l4pefh e1geg53v2\">Trader Joe&#8217;s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"8\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">The suit also argues that shoppers had no practical way to know any of this before buying. Customers are \u201cunable to discover the nature of Defendant\u2019s misrepresentation,\u201d the complaint says, because they cannot examine the coffee before purchase and testing caffeine levels requires scientific tools and knowledge beyond what any normal shopper would have on hand.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"9\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">Taken together, the plaintiffs describe the coffee\u2019s marketing as \u201cfalse and deceptive advertising\u201d and part of a pattern of \u201cunlawful and unfair business practices.\u201d They\u2019re seeking monetary damages and want Trader Joe\u2019s to stop selling the product in what they allege is a misleading way. They also want the company to reassess prior customer claims and more clearly address what, exactly, buyers are getting in the bag.<\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"editorial-link\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-25\" data-node-id=\"10\" class=\"embed\">\n<aside class=\"css-u95ltk e94w1mj3\"\/><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 min read Trader Joe\u2019s is facing a lawsuit over claims that its French Roast Low Acid coffee contains far less caffeine than customers expected. Plaintiffs say testing found the coffee had about half the caffeine of Trader Joe\u2019s regular blends. The lawsuit accuses the company of misleading marketing and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}