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Prebiotic sodas: Over-promising but under-delivering the health benefits?

Prebiotic soda brands must make sure their ingredients and health claims are substantiated – or risk litigation, warns a microbiome expert.

In recent years, prebiotic sodas have taken the market by storm, bringing a ‘better for you’ option to a category that has long been a target for health lobbies and governments.

The trend first took off in the US, with Olipop, Poppi, and, latterly, Coca-Cola’s Simply Pop leading the charge. Now prebiotic drinks are also gaining traction in Europe, with Living Things, Squishy Pop, Fibe, Xoxo, and The Gut Stuff among the brands vying for market share.

However, not all of the noise around prebiotic sodas has been good vibes. In 2024, they hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, when a lawsuit was brought against Poppi.

The class action lawsuit, filed in May 2024, accused the company of misleading consumers by claiming that its sodas are gut-friendly when the amount of prebiotic fibre in one can (2g) was “too low to deliver meaningful health benefits”.

The suit alleged that a consumer would need to drink four cans a day to glean any benefit from the fibre, but that the amount of sugar consumed would counteract any health benefit.

Poppi denied wrongdoing but agreed to an $8.9m settlement last year.

Industry impact: Clinical validation is key

According to functional ingredient and gut health claims strategist Soledad Gurovic, the main implication of this case for the industry is a clear realisation that health claims must be supported by robust clinical data.

“With functional ingredients, adding fibre is not enough. The type of fibre, the dose, the daily intake, and how the overall formulation – especially added sugars – supports the intended benefit, are critical,” Gurovic told this publication.

“Clinical validation is now becoming part of brand development. Science is no longer limited to R&D; it is diffusing across the entire process, including marketing and post-market monitoring.”

Gurovic doesn’t see the lawsuit as a challenge to the science behind prebiotics, rather to how products were formulated and communicated.

“In many cases, products did not deliver effective doses per serving, or required additional sugar intake to reach those levels,” she said.

“In short, the message is clear: formulation and communication must be aligned. Consumers are increasingly aware and will challenge brands that overpromise or lack transparency.”

Europe: Legality hinges on substantiation and communication

But given that Europe is far less litigious than the US, and that it operates the strictest regulatory framework in the world with regard to claims, how relevant is the Poppi case in the context of the European market?

Most of the brands mentioned above use the term ‘prebiotic’, often as a product descriptor such as ‘prebiotic soda’.

Gurovic advised that even in this context, the term can imply a health benefit, placing it in a regulatory “grey area” depending on how it is substantiated and communicated.

This is because, at the present time, the EU has not authorised use of the term ‘prebiotic’ in connection with an approved health claim. EU member states have issued varying advice regarding their tolerance of this term.

‘Prebiotic’ is an implied health claim in the EU

While this has led to a lack of harmonisation, most member states agree with the European Commission that the use of ‘prebiotic’ in the labelling or advertising of foods and food supplements is an implied health claim and not permitted unless used in conjunction with an authorised health claim.

“While fibre is broadly accepted based on safety and traditional use, the term ‘prebiotic’ is only used in practice in some countries such as Italy and Spain for specific ingredients, although it remains subject to regulatory interpretation,” said Gurovic.

In the UK, for example, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has previously ruled that ‘prebiotic’ is a general health claim, which would then need to be accompanied by a relevant authorised specific health claim.

Several prebiotics, namely inulin, lactulose, sugar beet fibre, and rye fibre, have attained EU-authorised health claim status within the area of digestive health.

Inulin – often in the form of chicory fibre or Jerusalem artichoke – is the prebiotic that most commonly features in sodas.

Not all fibres are prebiotic

Gurovic noted that not all fibres qualify as prebiotics – defined by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) as “a substrate that is selectively utilised by host microorganisms, conferring a health benefit”.

“This is not because they lack potential, but because the level of clinical validation is not always sufficient. A true prebiotic effect not only requires changes in the gut microbiota, but is also generally expected to be associated with a measurable clinical benefit,” she said.

With this in mind, she said it is important to distinguish between fibre and a prebiotic effect.

“A product is not prebiotic because it contains five grams of fibre; it is a prebiotic because it contains a substantiated ingredient, such as inulin, at an effective dose,” she said.

In this respect, Gurovic said that she is seeing “varying levels of regulatory exposure” across prebiotic soda brands on the European market.

“Clear communication is still missing in many cases. Consumers are rarely told what dose is needed to experience an effect, what the effect is, or how consumption should be managed over time.”

Prebiotic sodas: Over-promising and under-delivering?

Overall, she said there is clear progress in formulation, with many products reaching 5-10 grams of fibre per serving, but that communication and substantiation still need to catch up.

The most visible risk associated with overpromising and underdelivering on health benefits is regulatory action or litigation, but, in Gurovic’s view, the more profound risk is loss of consumer trust.

“This is now a crowded category and consumers have many alternatives. Brands that fail to deliver on their promise will struggle with repeat purchase and long-term adoption.”

She believes the next stage for the category is to not just be a “less unhealthy” option, but to deliver “meaningful health benefits”.

“The brands that succeed will be those that combine taste, functionality, and real impact on health.”