Starbucks sued for putting too much ice in drinks

A Starbucks customer from Chicago has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the coffee chain, accusing it of using too much ice in its cold drinks.

The suit, filed by Stacy Pincus, claims that while Starbucks advertises its cold drinks by fluid ounce, the numbers are only accurate when ice is added to a drink.

The suit says Starbucks is advertising the size of its cold drinks cups on its menu rather than the amount of fluid that the customer will receive when they purchase a cold drink, and is therefore deceiving its customers in the process.

The lawsuit claims that a Venti cold drink, for example, is advertised as having 24 fluid ounces, but only includes 14 ounces of the actual liquid, the rest is ice.

Jamie Riley, a spokesperson for Starbucks, said the company is aware of Pincus' claim and believes it is without merit.

The popular coffee chain saw its first ever fall in sales in the UK last year.

However, a spokesman said: "The UK business is moving in the right direction: gross profit is up 13 percent and operating margin is up more than 22 percent." He added: "We expect the business to continue to grow as economic growth picks up."