The King of Beers has been watering down its famous brew, falling short of the promised alcohol content on the Budweiser label, according to three newly filed suits.
Anheuser-Busch InBev has also been cheating beer guzzlers by lowering the punch of Bud Light, Michelob, King Cobra and Michelob Ultra, the court papers say
“AB’s customers are overcharged for watered-down beer, and AB is unjustly enriched by the additional volume it can sell,” plaintiffs Thomas and Gerald Greenberg said in one of the complaints, Bloomberg News reported.
The label says Budweiser contains 5 percent alcohol, but the plaintiffs claim that Bud is delivering less than that, in violation of consumer-protection laws.
The complaints, filed in federal courts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California, are seeking damages of about $5 million each.
But the final total “could be quite significant based on the volume of products that AB produces a year,” said Josh Boxer, lawyer for the California plaintiffs.
Boxer said that former Anheuser-Busch employees helped the plaintiffs figure out that the beer was being watered down.
A company spokesman called the allegations “completely false.” in an e-mailed statement.
“Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol-labeling laws,” said Peter Kraemer, the company’s vice president of brewing. “We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the US and the world.”
The flagship Budweiser brand was the No. 2 beer in the United States last year, while Bud Light was No. 1
In California, Nina Giampaoli and John Elbert of Sonoma County want class action status to include beer lovers nationwide who have bought the brewer’s products during the past five years.
Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world’s largest brewer, controlling 39 percent of the US beer market.
The suits come as the company is trying to get the government’s OK to complete the purchase of Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s largest beermaker, for $20.1 billion.