Mo. high court rejects class-action status in Diet Coke lawsuit

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected class-action certification for a lawsuit claiming consumers were mislead about the sweeteners used in some Diet Coke products.

The lawsuit contends that many consumers would not have bought the fountain version of Diet Coke if they had known it contained the sweetener saccharin along with aspartame. Bottled Diet Coke is sweetened exclusively with aspartame.

A Jackson County judge had approved the lawsuit as a class action.

But the state's highest court prohibited that in a unanimous decision Tuesday.

The Supreme Court said the classification was overly broad, because it could have covered an indefinite number of people, many of whom did not really care how their Diet Coke was sweetened.