No aloe vera or not enough aloe vera, that is the question

A federal appeals court on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against the creators of aloe vera skin-care products over allegations of not containing enough aloe vera, ruling the case itself contained a “dearth of evidence.”

Consumer Jennifer Beardsall first alleged in her original suit that the products sold in pharmacy chains nationwide did not have any aloe vera and, following scientific evidence in discovery that rebutted this, amended her complaint to say the products did not have enough aloe vera, according to documents in Jennifer Beardsall vs. CVS Pharmacy Inc., et. al, filed in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

Defendant Fruit of the Earth Inc. manufactures aloe vera gel and sells the product under its own brand and produces private‐label versions for co-defendants CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and Target.

Because “uncontested facts drawn from discovery showed these allegations to be false: the products were made from aloe vera and contained at least some acemannan,” the appeals court said Ms. Beardsall failed to present “evidence that some concentration of acemannan is necessary to call a product aloe or to produce a therapeutic effect” nor evidence that ”consumers care at all about acemannan concentration.”