Posted June 13, 2014
On
Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of POM Wonderful in their
advertising dispute with Coca-Cola Co., according to an Associated Press
article on ABC News by Sam Hananel available here.
Reuters also published an article available here
and CNN here.
A previous blog post on the dispute is available here.
This
verdict could set the precedent for future litigation against food makers for
misleading labeling. The justices ruled 8-0 allowing POM to continue with a
lawsuit claiming the label on a “Pomegranate blueberry” beverage offered by
Coke’s Minute Maid is deceptive, because 99 percent of the drink is apple and
grape juice.
POM, which
makes a 100 percent pomegranate drink, said the label would hurt sales for its
own product. POM also viewed the ruling as a victory for consumers, according
to Reuters.
"We
believe that when people better understand what they are consuming, they can
make healthy and more informed decisions about what they buy," the company
said in a statement.
The
Supreme Court reversed a U.S. District Court in California and a federal
appeals court finding that said POM could not bring its claims under the
federal Lanham Act.
"We
intend to defend against POM's claims that our labeling is misleading and the
evidence at trial will show that our product was not the cause of POM's poor
sales," Coca-Cola said in a statement.
Lower
courts had ruled against Pom, but the justices determined that while the
federal government can pursue misleading labels, private parties can also
challenge “practices that allegedly mislead and trick consumers,” according to CNN.
POM has
also faced allegations of misleading advertising, and was sued by the Federal
Trade Commission in 2010 for making “false and unsubstantiated” health claims. POM
was asked to remove the claims for its ads.
The case
is POM Wonderful LLC v. The Coca-Cola Company, No. 12-761. Justice
Stephen Breyer did not participate in deciding this appeal.
For more information on food labeling, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
