J&J Unit Zarbee’s Sued Over ‘Natural’ Kids Cough Syrup Labels

Johnson & Johnson unit Zarbee’s Inc. deceptively markets drug-free children’s cough syrups as “natural,” even though they’re made with synthetic ingredients, a new proposed class suit in a New York federal court alleges.

The company’s misleading portrayal led New Yorker Akiela Babb to buy a honey-based “Zarbee’s Naturals” product at a premium price, she says in a suit filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The front label representation includes a bumble bee and an ivy leaf—the sources of the product’s promoted ingredients, dark honey and ivy leaf extract, the suit says. The ...