Court upholds deceptive ad claims against POM

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court said Friday that many advertising claims for POM Wonderful juice were deceptive in asserting that it curbs the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction and is clinically proven to work.

In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a conclusion reached earlier by the Federal Trade Commission that many of POM’s ads made misleading or false claims. The ads appeared in national publications, on Internet sites, bus stops, billboards, newsletters and on tags attached to the products.

POM Wonderful LLC produces a number of pomegranate-based products.

“We see no basis for setting aside the commission’s conclusion that many of POM’s ads made misleading or false claims about POM products,” wrote appeals Judge Sri Srinivasan.

The Federal Trade Commission Act does not allow, “and the First Amendment does not protect – deceptive and misleading advertisements,” Srinivsan wrote.

The court upheld the commission’s requirement that POM gain the support of at least one randomized, controlled, human clinical trial before claiming a causal relationship between consumption of POM products and the treatment or prevention of any disease.

Ruling against the FTC on one point, the appeals court said it found inadequate justification for the commission’s blanket requirement of at least two such studies as a precondition to any disease-related claim.

The appeals court examined studies the company used – an early one that was favorable to POM and two later, larger ones that were not. The court said a POM newsletter omitted any mention of the unfavorable studies and trumpeted the findings of the favorable study.