National Beverage Shares Fall Amid LaCroix Suit Over Chemical Content

Correction: Benzinga has removed the word "toxic" from this story in connection with the chemical Bisphenol A. 

Shares of LaCroix parent company National Beverage Corp. FIZZ are reacting negatively to a report alleging its cans contained the chemical Bisphenol A. 

The lawsuit, reported by Business Insider, alleges the president of National Beverage "planned to falsely state in April" that its sparkling water cans were free of the chemical, commonly known as BPA.

BPA is a chemical used to harden plastic and can found in a number of consumer products, including hard plastic drinking containers.

According to the BI report, Albert Dejewski was the former LaCroix executive and was fired less than 24 hours after raising concerns about the alleged BPA-free claim.

LaCroix states on its website its cans are BPA-free.

Update: A spokesperson for LaCroix responded to Benzinga with an emailed statement:

All LaCroix beverages are now produced in cans without BPA liners. We began converting to BPA-free liners two years ago, and continued as suppliers were able to supply cans. As of April 2019, all cans produced for LaCroix products were produced without BPA liners.

The FDA has stated BPA liners are safe and pose no risk at the trace levels found from its use in can linings of food and beverage products.

False statements were made in litigation brought by a former employee seeking to extract a monetary recovery from the company. We intend to vigorously defend our company and our brands against false claims brought by this disgruntled former employee.

National Beverage's stock traded lower by 7 percent to $44.20 per share at time of publication.

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