On Friday, US District Judge Thelton Henderson rejected an effort by Starbucks to have the complaint against the company dismissed, instead ruling that the California plaintiffs may pursue damages from Starbucks in their proposed nationwide class action lawsuit against the caffeine kingpin. Filed in March, the lawsuit alleges that a recipe change for Starbucks lattes, implemented in 2009, has resulted in lattes that uniformly have approximately 25 per cent less fluid than is advertised for each Starbucks cup size. Specifically, the lawsuit faults Starbucks for including the ‘foam’ layer on top of their latte beverages as part of the total fluid volume of the drink. The lawsuit alleges that Starbucks changed its recipe in order to save money on milk, without changing its cup sizes or prices to match accordingly: ‘By underfilling lattes, thereby shortchanging its customers, Starbucks has saved countless millions of dollars in the cost of goods sold and was unjustly enriched for taking payment for more product than it delivers,’ the suit reads.

Sources: Wall Street Journal; The Guardian