Facts

An administrative action was filed by the FTC against the marketers of POM Wonderful 100 percent Pomegranate Juice and POMx supplements for deceptive advertising. According to the FTC, POM Wonderful LLC, Roll Global LLC, and several other individuals, allegedly made deceptive health claims by purportedly claiming that the products could treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction. The FTC also alleged that Respondents' advertisements made the claim that the products were clinically proven to work. Respondents disputed the FTC's allegations, presenting evidence at trial that the advertisements did not convey the messages ascribed to them by the FTC and that Respondents possessed adequate scientific research to substantiate the health claims made in their advertising.

In 2012, Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell issued an initial decision in which he found a small portion of POM's advertisements to be false or misleading although he recognized certain health benefits from the consumption of pomegranate juice. Respondents appealed.

Result

The FTC issued a Final Order upholding Judge Chappell's decision in part, and barred POM marketers from making any claim that a food, drug or dietary supplement was "effective in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease."