Gen Z is obsessed with health and wellness and finding healthier alternatives to their favorite foods and drinks. Poppi is one of these alternatives. It is branded as a healthy prebiotic soda with flavors like “Doc Pop” and “Classic Cola” that mimic your favorite soft drinks. However, it has recently faced scrutiny for not being as healthy as it claims to be.
One of Poppi’s main slogans is “Be Gut Happy. Be Gut Healthy.” This marketing is directly targeted at the growing American interest in being as healthy as possible. What this slogan doesn’t tell you is that you’d actually have to drink an unreasonable amount of cans of Poppi a day to get any major health benefits.
A lawsuit was filed in May 2024 by Kristin Cobbs, a consumer of Poppi, for their false advertising of being gut-healthy. She found that each drink only contained two grams of inulin, which is negligible in terms of meaningful health benefits. The National Library of Medicine says that real health results only occur after ingesting roughly 12 grams of inulin, which is six times more than a single can of Poppi offers.
Cobbs was angry that she paid a high price to get the promised benefits when in reality she was getting close to no benefits. Poppi was forced to settle in an $8.9 million class-action lawsuit in April 2026. The settlement covered US consumers who purchased Poppi products between January 23, 2020 and July 18, 2025. Even though the case was resolved as a result of the settlement, this brought the brand into the spotlight.
Poppi has made it obvious that they are aware of their false advertising by agreeing to the settlement and quietly removing their gut-healthy slogans. Even though Poppi isn’t a drink with distinct health benefits, it’s still technically a healthier option than most soft drinks. It’s a great alternative if you want a lower calorie taste swap, but don’t assume it provides much else.
This is all a lesson in knowing what you’re consuming. While customers have the right to be angry at false advertising, we need to be more vigilant about knowing what’s good for us and what’s not. Maybe instead of turning to sodas for health, we should stick to actual healthy foods that we know provide real benefits.
