The Feel Free tonic lawsuit settlement resolved a consumer class action against Botanic Tonics for $8.75 million, with a federal judge granting final approval on October 20, 2025. Payments to approved claimants began in May 2026. The case, In Re Botanic Tonics Litigation, accused the company of marketing its two-ounce Feel Free wellness drink as a safe alcohol alternative while concealing that its key active ingredient, kratom, produces opioid-like effects and can lead to dependency.1ClaimDepot. Feel Free Class Action
Who Can Claim a Payment
The settlement class includes anyone in the United States who bought a Feel Free tonic containing kratom between March 28, 2019 and March 5, 2025.2Feel Free Class Action Settlement Website. In Re Botanic Tonics Litigation Settlement Claimants who bought ten or fewer bottles did not need to submit receipts. Anyone claiming more than ten had to provide proof of purchase or similar documentation.
Cash payments were distributed pro rata, meaning each person’s share depended on how many bottles they claimed and how many valid claims came in overall. One published estimate placed individual payouts in a range of roughly $175 to $292.3Top Class Actions. $8.75M Botanic Tonics Ingredients Class Action Settlement The $8.75 million gross fund also paid attorneys’ fees of up to one third, service awards of up to $5,000 for each of the four class representatives, and settlement administration costs.2Feel Free Class Action Settlement Website. In Re Botanic Tonics Litigation Settlement
The claims deadline has passed. If you filed a valid claim, payments began going out in May 2026 through the settlement administrator.1ClaimDepot. Feel Free Class Action
What the Lawsuit Alleged
The case began as Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC et al., filed on March 28, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by plaintiff Romulo Torres. A parallel case filed in the Central District of California, C.C. v. Botanic Tonics, was later consolidated with it under Case No. 3:23-cv-01460-VC before Judge Vince Chhabria.4Botanic Tonics Settlement Website. In Re Botanic Tonics Litigation Class Action Settlement Notice Four consumers served as class representatives: Torres, Sam Rosenfield, Paul Teitler, and Christopher Corday.
According to the complaint, Botanic Tonics promoted Feel Free as a kava-based wellness product and downplayed or obscured the presence of kratom, its second listed ingredient. The plaintiffs alleged the company targeted people struggling with addiction or exploring sobriety by pitching the drink as a “safe, sober and healthy alternative to alcohol,” and used social media influencers, campus ambassadors, and sports sponsorships with universities including Florida State, USC, and the University of Texas to reach that audience.5ClassAction.org. Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC et al.
The consolidated complaint asserted violations of California, New York, and New Jersey consumer protection statutes, along with claims for common law fraud, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, and unjust enrichment.6ClassAction.org. Botanic Tonics Litigation Settlement Agreement Two theories ran through the case: that Botanic Tonics actively marketed Feel Free as safe and beneficial, and that it failed to disclose kratom’s opioid-like risks and its unapproved status with the FDA.
What Botanic Tonics Agreed to Change
Beyond the $8.75 million payment, the settlement required Botanic Tonics to add a warning to Feel Free packaging and social media advertising. The mandated language reads: “Warning: This product contains leaf kratom which can become habit-forming and cause serious adverse health effects. Consider avoiding this product if you have a history of substance abuse.”1ClaimDepot. Feel Free Class Action
Botanic Tonics denied any wrongdoing, and the court never ruled on the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims. The settlement resolves the class members’ claims against Botanic Tonics, LLC and Hydra623 Holdings, LLC, described in the settlement agreement as the “BT Defendants.”6ClassAction.org. Botanic Tonics Litigation Settlement Agreement
Why Kratom Was at the Center of the Case
Kratom is the reason this drink drew a lawsuit rather than a routine consumer dispute. The active alkaloids in kratom, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, bind to the same mu-opioid receptors as morphine, producing stimulation at low doses and sedation or euphoria at higher ones.7National Institute on Drug Abuse. Kratom The FDA does not recognize kratom as a lawful dietary supplement, food additive, or approved drug, and treats products containing it as adulterated.8U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA and Kratom
The scale of exposure has grown quickly. Kratom-related reports to the National Poison Data System rose from 258 in 2015 to 3,434 in 2025, an increase of about 1,200 percent, and researchers documented 233 kratom-associated deaths over that decade, 79 percent of which involved other substances alongside kratom.9Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kratom Exposures Reported to Poison Centers That backdrop shaped the plaintiffs’ theory that selling a kratom drink as a wellness product, without warning consumers, was itself the harm.
The 7-Eleven Question
7-Eleven, Inc. was originally named as a co-defendant. The complaint described the retailer as a “co-conspirator” that gave Botanic Tonics inside guidance to secure shelf placement, including through the hire of a former 7-Eleven employee as a national account manager.10ClassAction.org. Feel Free Wellness Tonic Made With Addictive Opioid Kratom, Class Action Alleges In December 2023, Judge Chhabria denied 7-Eleven’s motion to dismiss, allowing claims under California’s unfair competition law to proceed on the theory that the chain sold a product it allegedly knew was dangerous without disclosing that to buyers.11Courthouse News Service. 7-Eleven Must Face Liability Claims for Selling Drink Containing Kratom
7-Eleven, however, was not a party to the $8.75 million settlement, which resolved only the claims against Botanic Tonics and Hydra623 Holdings.6ClassAction.org. Botanic Tonics Litigation Settlement Agreement Whether the claims against 7-Eleven were separately resolved is not reflected in publicly available settlement documents. If you bought Feel Free at 7-Eleven, your purchase still counted for the class settlement; the retailer’s own exposure is a separate question.