Food Fight - FTC Issues Administrative Complaint Regarding POM Wonderful Claims

POM Wonderful Example Advertisement

Cook Like Jackie reported last month on POM Wonderful's successful bid against Ocean Spray's labeling claims regarding its pomegranate juice products.  Now it seems that POM Wonderful has a legal issue of its own to tackle.  As part of its ongoing efforts to uncover over-hyped health claims in food advertising, the Federal Trade Commission has issued an administrative complaint charging the makers of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and POMx supplements with making false and unsubstantiated claims that their products will prevent or treat heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction.


The FTC complaint charges that POM Wonderful LLC, sister corporation Roll International Corp., and principals Stewart Resnick, Lynda Resnick, and Matthew Tupper violated federal law by making deceptive disease prevention and treatment claims. The ads in question appeared in national publications such as Parade, Fitness, The New York Times , and Prevention magazines; on Internet sites such as pomtruth.com, pomwonderful.com, and pompills.com; on bus stops and billboards; in newsletters to customers; and on tags attached to the product.

POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice is widely available at grocery stores nationwide, and a 16 oz. bottle retails for approximately $3.99. POMx pills and liquid extract are sold via direct mail, with a one-month supply costing approximately $30.

The Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection staunchly contested POM Wonderful's claims and the scientific data used to support them.  "Any consumer who sees POM Wonderful products as a silver bullet against disease has been misled," said David Vladeck, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "When a company touts scientific research in its advertising, the research must squarely support the claims made. Contrary to POM Wonderful's advertising, the available scientific information does not prove that POM Juice or POMx effectively treats or prevents these illnesses."

Some of the advertising claims included statements such as "SUPER HEALTH POWERS! ... 100% PURE POMEGRANATE JUICE ... Backed by $25 million in medical research. Proven to fight for cardiovascular, prostate and erectile health." "NEW RESEARCH OFFERS FURTHER PROOF OF THE HEART-HEALTHY BENEFITS OF POM WONDERFUL JUICE. 30% DECREASE IN ARTERIAL PLAQUE ... 17% IMPROVED BLOOD FLOW ... PROMOTES HEALTHY BLOOD VESSELS … "

"Prostate health. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in the United States and the second-leading cause of cancer death in men after lung cancer. Time pill. Stable levels of prostate-specific antigens (or PSA levels) are critical for men with prostate cancer. Patients with quick PSA doubling times are more likely to die from their cancer. According to a UCLA study of 46 men age 65 to 70 with advanced prostate cancer, drinking an 8 oz glass of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice every day slowed their PSA doubling time by nearly 350%. ... 83% of those who participated in the study showed a significant decrease in their cancer regrowth rate."

"You have to be on pomegranate juice. You have a 50 percent chance of getting [prostate cancer]. Listen to me. It is the one thing that will keep your PSA normal. You have to drink pomegranate juice. There is nothing else we know of that will keep your PSA in check. … It's also 40 percent as effective as Viagra."

The FTC's administrative complaint against POM Wonderful alleges that these claims are false and unsubstantiated:

Clinical studies prove that POM Juice and POMx prevent, reduce the risk of, and treat heart disease, including by decreasing arterial plaque, lowering blood pressure, and improving blood flow to the heart;

Clinical studies prove that POM Juice and POMx prevent, reduce the risk of, and treat prostate cancer, including by prolonging prostate-specific antigen doubling time;

Clinical studies prove that POM Juice prevents, reduces the risk of, and treats, erectile dysfunction.

The FTC complaint alleges that POM Wonderful's heart disease claims are false and unsubstantiated because many of the scientific studies conducted by POM Wonderful did not show heart disease benefit from use of its products. It alleges that the prostate cancer claims are false and unsubstantiated because, among other reasons, the study POM Wonderful relied on was neither "blinded" nor controlled. Finally, it alleges that the erectile dysfunction claims are false and unsubstantiated because the study on which the company relied did not show that POM Juice was any more effective than a placebo.

The complaint sets forth a proposed order that would prevent future law violations by POM Wonderful. In part, the proposed order would require that future claims that any pomegranate-based product cures, prevents, treats, or reduces the risk of any disease not be misleading and comply with Food and Drug Administration regulations for the claim. Although FDA approval of health claims generally is not required for compliance with the FTC Act, the proposed order would require FDA pre-approval before POM Wonderful makes future claims that certain products prevent or treat serious diseases, in order to provide clearer guidance for the company, facilitate POM Wonderful's compliance with the proposed order, and make it easier to enforce. The complaint also proposes to prohibit the respondents from making any other health claim about any food, drug, or dietary supplement without competent and reliable scientific evidence.

In a related case, Mark Dreher, POM Wonderful's former head of scientific and regulatory affairs and expert endorser, has agreed to a settlement that bars him from making any disease treatment or prevention claims in advertising for a POM Wonderful product unless the claim is not misleading and comports with FDA requirements for the claim. The settlement also prohibits Dreher from making other health claims for a food, drug, or dietary supplement for human use without competent and reliable scientific evidence to support the claim. The settlement contains a cooperation clause and reporting provisions to assist the FTC in monitoring compliance with the order.

Copies of the POM Wonderful complaint and notice order, and of the Dreher complaint and consent agreement, are available from the FTC's website at http://www.ftc.gov and the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The Dreher consent agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, until October 27, 2010, after which the Commission will decide whether to make it final. Written comment should be sent to: FTC, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20580. To file a public comment electronically, please click on the following hyperlink: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/markdreher.

For more information please contact cooklikejackie@gmail.com.

Food Fight - Ocean Spray Files Federal Lawsuit

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. filed a lawsuit on yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts for violations of federal and state law by Decas Cranberry Sales, Inc. and related companies, as well as several unnamed cranberry growers and handlers. The suit alleges that the defendants orchestrated a deceitful campaign falsely accusing Ocean Spray of violating the law and harming the cranberry industry.


The complaint states that the defendants joined together in promoting a smear campaign against Ocean Spray that included soliciting cranberry growers (including Ocean Spray's grower-owners) not to work with Ocean Spray, soliciting cranberry growers (including Ocean Spray's grower-owners) to join an intended lawsuit against Ocean Spray by falsely claiming that Ocean Spray is violating federal law, including the federal
antitrust laws.

The Complaint also alleges that Decas Cranberry, Ocean Spray's direct competitor, has used a variety of additional deceptive tactics and media for Decas' disinformation campaign, including widely distributed letters and emails to growers, internet blogs and websites, Facebook accounts, YouTube videos and Twitter postings that Decas fraudulently led consumers to believe emanated from an independent non-profit consumer advocacy group, rather than from Decas Cranberry itself.

Ocean Spray is an agricultural cooperative owned by 650 cranberry growers in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and other parts of Canada as well as approximately 50 Florida grapefruit growers. The company was formed 80 years ago by three cranberry growers from Massachusetts and New Jersey with Florida grapefruit growers joined the Cooperative in 1976.

Ocean Spray is North America's leading producer of shelf-stable juice drinks, and has been the best-selling brand name in that category since 1981. Ocean Spray posted gross sales of $2 billion in 2009 and recently launched a line of blueberry flavored drink products.

The suit cites the defendants on eight counts of violations of the Agricultural Fair Practices Act, 7 U.S.C. section 2301; Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. section 1125(a); and the Massachusetts Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A, sections 2, 11.

For more information contact cooklikejackie@gmail.com.

Ocean Spray Introduces New Line of Blueberry Products

Ocean Spray recently unveiled a new line of blueberry-based products including Blueberry and Blueberry Pomegranate Juice Cocktails, Craisins® Blueberry Juice Infused Dried Cranberries, Blueberry Sugar-Free Drink Mixes and fresh blueberries is a first for the juice category leader.

Not quite out of the blue, Ocean Spray has partnered with JetBlue Airlines to offer travelers a unique opportunity to sample the new line of juice and Craisins® dried cranberries as part of the airline's complimentary line-up of unlimited name brand snacks and drinks through the month of July.


Today from noon-1 p.m. juice loving New Yorkers can see how they measure up to a larger-than-life bottle at Greeley Square Park (between 6th and Broadway, and 33rd and 32nd streets).  Participants will have an opportunity to win one of 250 prizes from Ocean Spray's custom luggage carousel. Prizes include roundtrip JetBlue travel to any of its 61 destinations across the U.S., Caribbean and Latin and South Americas, JetBlue Gift Cards ranging from $25-$100, ShopBlue merchandise and Ocean Spray Blueberry Juice products.

The new line of products in detail:

Blueberry and Blueberry Pomegranate Juice Cocktail - Available in original and diet, each eight ounce glass offers a full day's supply of Vitamin C. Juice lovers will adore the diet variety which offers the refreshing taste of blueberries with only five little calories per serving.

Craisins® Blueberry Juice Infused Dried Cranberries - Made from real fruit and have good-for-you fiber, new Craisins® blueberry dried cranberries are a tasty, juice infused, on-the-go snack.

Blueberry Sugar-Free Drink Mixes - Available in Blueberry Lemonade and Blueberry Pomegranate flavors. Sugar-Free Drink Mixes are a nutritious, deliciously flavored drink alternative packed with 100 percent daily value of Vitamin C and only five calories per serving.

Fresh Blueberries - Summer-ripened blueberries rank high among traditional fruits in naturally occurring antioxidants. Look for Ocean Spray fresh blueberries in the produce department year-round.
 
For more information, please contact cooklikejackie@gmail.com.