Buffalo Lithia Water (later Buffalo Mineral Springs Water) was a brand of
lithia water bottled in
Buffalo Lithia Springs
Buffalo Springs (formerly, Buffalo Mineral Springs and Buffalo Lithia Springs) is an unincorporated community in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. It lies at an elevation of 364 feet (111 m). Located at Buffalo Springs is the Buffalo Springs Histo ...
,
Virginia. It was advertised with outsize medical claims, including the ability to treat
fevers and
nervous disorders. One ad promised a "Marvelous Efficiency in Gout, Rheumatism,
ndGastrointestinal Dyspepsia." It was sold from the late 19th century to the 1950s. At the height of its popularity, it was available in approximately 20,000 groceries and pharmacies in
Europe,
Canada, and the
United States.
In 1910, the
United States Attorney for the District of Columbia filed suit against the company for misbranding and
false advertising
False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or servic ...
, alleging that there was too little
lithium in the water to qualify as a lithia water. Giving testimony in the case in 1912, a Dr.Collins testified that "for a person to obtain a therapeutic dose of lithium by drinking Buffalo Lithia Water, he would have to drink from 150,000 to 225,000 gallons of water per day." In 1917, the case was finally decided against Buffalo Lithia Water. The company was forced to change its name, rebranding itself as Buffalo Mineral Springs Water.
Subsequent to the case, the company was sold. In the 1950s, the
United States Army Corps of Engineers took possession of the property containing the original spring. During the building of the
John H. Kerr Dam and the creation of
Kerr Lake, the grounds were flooded. The bottling business was never re-opened.
References
{{Reflist
Bottled water brands
Soft drinks
Patent medicines
Lithia water