Aquafina bottled water's image seems designed to evoke purity. The label features an orange sun peeking out from behind a mountain range, the product description reads “purified drinking water” and the back states that it is “bottled at the source.”

So it came as a surprise to some customers when they found out that the source in question is no pristine mountain stream but a public water source. In other words, Aquafina is purified tap water, as its manufacturer, PepsiCo Inc., announced in 2007.

Customers, claiming they felt betrayed, filed several class action lawsuits, which were consolidated into one case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs alleged unfair and deceptive trade practices under state consumer laws. PepsiCo filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, citing the Food and Drug Administration's express pre-emption provision in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and the state laws' implied conflict with the federal statutes.