Canada Dry Mott’s Inc. agreed to pay $200,000, plus more than $18,000 in disbursements, to settle a British Columbia lawsuit over its “Made from Real Ginger” marketing, according to contemporaneous reporting. The company denied liability, and the reported settlement did not require changes to Canadian labels or advertising. It was a settlement—not a court finding that Canada Dry contained no ginger or that its marketing was unlawful.
What the British Columbia lawsuit alleged
Victor Cardoso alleged that Canada Dry’s “Made from Real Ginger” representation misled consumers. He said he bought the drink believing ginger offered medicinal benefits. Those were the plaintiff’s allegations, not findings made by a court.
Global News reported on October 29, 2020, and updated its account on October 30, that Canada Dry Mott’s Inc. agreed to pay $200,000 and more than $18,000 in disbursements to resolve the case. The report quoted the settlement terms as saying the company “expressly denies liability and is not required to change its product labelling or advertising for products marketed in Canada.” Global News’ report is the contemporaneous source for the British Columbia amount and terms.
What the settlement does—and does not—establish
A settlement resolves a dispute without necessarily deciding who would have prevailed at trial. In this case, the reported denial of liability and absence of required Canadian label or advertising changes mean the agreement should not be described as a finding against Canada Dry.
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- It does not establish that the drink contained no ginger.
- It does not establish that the “Made from Real Ginger” claim was unlawful.
- It does not report a court-ordered change to Canadian packaging or advertising.
The cited reporting and records do not provide a measured ginger concentration or dose, and no independent test result is presented here. The settlement figure is therefore not evidence of how much ginger was in the beverage.
How the separate Quebec case differed
The British Columbia case is distinct from Zouzout v. Canada Dry Mott’s Inc. and Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., a separate Quebec class action involving allegations about products marketed with “Made from Real Ginger” or “Fait à partir de vrai gingembre.” The defendants denied wrongdoing and liability in the settlement notice; the agreement describes settlement as a way to avoid litigation costs and the uncertainty of trial. Those terms did not turn the allegations into admissions.
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The Quebec settlement set a $650,000 total cap. That amount was to cover class compensation, administration, counsel fees, disbursements and other specified amounts; it was not a promise that $650,000 would be paid directly to class members. The agreement also set class counsel fees at $195,000 plus taxes, subject to court approval.
| Proceeding | Who and what it covered | Settlement figure | Liability and product changes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia, Cardoso | Victor Cardoso’s case over “Made from Real Ginger” marketing; the reported account describes his allegations. | $200,000 plus more than $18,000 in disbursements, as reported by Global News. | Canada Dry expressly denied liability. The reported agreement required no Canadian label or advertising change. | Settlement reported in October 2020. |
| Quebec, Zouzout | Qualifying consumers who bought in Quebec a Canada Dry Ginger Ale product bearing the English or French ginger phrase from January 14, 2016 through November 11, 2020. | $650,000 total settlement cap; $195,000 plus taxes in proposed class counsel fees, subject to court approval. | Defendants denied wrongdoing and liability. The agreement settled allegations; it does not establish an admission. | Quebec registry records a judgment of closure dated October 25, 2022. The administrator says claims ended July 16, 2021. |
The Quebec class-action registry records the Zouzout proceeding and its closure. The settlement notice’s class definition limits the Quebec agreement to qualifying purchases in Quebec during the stated period; it is not the class definition for Cardoso’s British Columbia case.
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Can Quebec consumers still file a settlement claim?
No. The settlement administrator states that the Quebec claims period ended July 16, 2021. The settlement is not an open claims program.
What a U.S. court did—and did not—decide
A separate 2017 U.S. case, Fitzhenry-Russell, is sometimes invoked in discussion of whether Canada Dry Ginger Ale contains ginger root. The Northern District of California order addressed procedural issues, including personal jurisdiction, whether claims could proceed based on the advertising campaign, and federal preemption. It did not determine the beverage’s ingredients. Judge Nathanael M. Cousins wrote: “The Court does not know, and fortunately, that is not the question it is being asked to answer here.” The September 22, 2017 court order makes clear that ingredient content was not the question before the court.
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- CAFFEINE FREE: Canada Dry Fruit Splash is available in Zero Sugar and Regular, is made with a splash of real juice, is caffeine free, and has no artificial flavors.
- COCKTAIL MIXER: Mix to make delicious cocktails or simply sit back and relax with Canada Dry Fruit Splash Cherry Ginger Ale over ice all by itself.
Why the amounts should not be conflated
The headline’s “not enough ginger in ginger ale” wording refers to the dispute over marketing, not a judicially measured threshold of ginger. The $200,000 British Columbia settlement and the Quebec agreement’s $650,000 cap belong to different proceedings, with different settlement terms and class definitions. Neither figure, on its own, answers whether the product contained ginger root or how much it contained.
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