Drink maker to consumers: Judge for yourself

Check in with us as we feature the latest trends, research and news in medicine, health and science. A team of Star Tribune staffers will aggregate updates from news wires, websites, magazines and medical journals.

resize text
subscribe via RSS

Drink maker to consumers: Judge for yourself

Posted by: Courtnay Peifer Updated: May 24, 2012 - 11:44 PM

1
comments
print

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

POM Wonderful, the maker of the pomegranate beverage, is talking back to a Federal Trade Commission judge.

Days after the FTC ruled that the company had made "false or misleading" claims about its product, the beverage maker launched an ad campaign incorporating the ruling -- by quoting the judge.

In a 335-page opinion, Chief Administrative Law Judge Michael Chappell said: “Pomegranate juice is a natural fruit product with health promoting characteristics. The safety of pomegranate juice is not in doubt.”

But he also found that there was “insufficient competent and reliable scientific evidence to support the implied claims” in POM advertisements, including that it can help fight heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction. But that's the part that a company vice president, Corey Martin, is disputing. He said the company never made such direct claims.

Read more about the ruling and the dust-up at Bloomberg