Food companies (such as POM Wonderful) invoke the First Amendment to defend false and unsubstantiated health claims.
Is Pomegranate Juice That Wonderful?
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Last year, the Federal Trade Commission charged top corporate executives at pomegranate juice maker POM Wonderful for making false and unsubstantiated health claims. For example, POM ads say that their juice can result in a “significant reduction of IMT [intima media thickness] (thickness of arterial plaque).” They even cite research.
Let’s check it out: “Effects of Consumption of Pomegranate Juice on Carotid Intima–Media Thickness in Men and Women at Moderate Risk for Coronary Heart Disease.”
What did it find? “No significant difference in overall [plaque] progression rate was observed between pomegranate juice and control treatments.” And not only that, it was their own study; they funded it. If you’re going to pay for a study, at least have the decency to falsify the data instead of just lying about the results!
POM responded to the complaint, claiming that the Federal Trade Commission lacks the authority to tell them what they can or cannot lie about under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
When this defense was raised earlier this year in the journal Public Health Nutrition, Marian Nestle and a colleague responded that “it seems obvious to us that this interpretation of the First Amendment neither follows its original intent, nor promotes the public interest. The founding fathers clearly intended the First Amendment to guarantee the right of individuals to speak freely about religious and political matters, not the right of food companies to market junk foods to children and adults.”
I wouldn’t consider pomegranate juice junk, but I do consider lying about their own research junk science.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Docket No. 9344. In the Matter of POM Wonderful LLC
- Nestle M, Ludwig DS. Front-of-package food labels: public health or propaganda? JAMA. 2010 Feb 24;303(8):771-2.
- Davidson MH, Maki KC, Dicklin MR, Feinstein SB, Witchger M, Bell M, McGuire DK, Provost JC, Liker H, Aviram M. Effects of consumption of pomegranate juice on carotid intima-media thickness in men and women at moderate risk for coronary heart disease. Am J Cardiol. 2009 Oct 1;104(7):936-42.
Last year, the Federal Trade Commission charged top corporate executives at pomegranate juice maker POM Wonderful for making false and unsubstantiated health claims. For example, POM ads say that their juice can result in a “significant reduction of IMT [intima media thickness] (thickness of arterial plaque).” They even cite research.
Let’s check it out: “Effects of Consumption of Pomegranate Juice on Carotid Intima–Media Thickness in Men and Women at Moderate Risk for Coronary Heart Disease.”
What did it find? “No significant difference in overall [plaque] progression rate was observed between pomegranate juice and control treatments.” And not only that, it was their own study; they funded it. If you’re going to pay for a study, at least have the decency to falsify the data instead of just lying about the results!
POM responded to the complaint, claiming that the Federal Trade Commission lacks the authority to tell them what they can or cannot lie about under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
When this defense was raised earlier this year in the journal Public Health Nutrition, Marian Nestle and a colleague responded that “it seems obvious to us that this interpretation of the First Amendment neither follows its original intent, nor promotes the public interest. The founding fathers clearly intended the First Amendment to guarantee the right of individuals to speak freely about religious and political matters, not the right of food companies to market junk foods to children and adults.”
I wouldn’t consider pomegranate juice junk, but I do consider lying about their own research junk science.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Docket No. 9344. In the Matter of POM Wonderful LLC
- Nestle M, Ludwig DS. Front-of-package food labels: public health or propaganda? JAMA. 2010 Feb 24;303(8):771-2.
- Davidson MH, Maki KC, Dicklin MR, Feinstein SB, Witchger M, Bell M, McGuire DK, Provost JC, Liker H, Aviram M. Effects of consumption of pomegranate juice on carotid intima-media thickness in men and women at moderate risk for coronary heart disease. Am J Cardiol. 2009 Oct 1;104(7):936-42.
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Is Pomegranate Juice That Wonderful?
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Be sure to check out my other videos on juice, including Best Fruit Juice.
For more context, also check out my associated blog posts: Alzheimer’s Disease: Up to half of cases potentially preventable, and The Science on Açaí Berries.
Update: For more on pomegranate, check out my more recent videos, Pomegranate vs. Placebo for Prostate Cancer and Pomegranate: A Natural Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis. I also did a cooking video on one way to eat this fruit: Dr. Greger in the Kitchen: Cran-Chocolate Pomegranate BROL Bowl.
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