The Supreme Court today resolved a dispute about misleading
product labeling. The issue was whether a private party can
sue a competitor on the grounds that the competitor's beverage
was misleadingly labeled, even though the label complies with
regulations issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The court held that such private suits are permitted.
The case is POM Wonderful LLC v. The Coca-Cola
Company. It arose from a dispute about the labeling of a
Minute Maid "Pomegranate Blueberry" juice product, which
prominently shows the words "Pomegranate Blueberry" and
shows a picture of those fruits. Despite the name, the drink
is only 0.3% pomegranate juice and 0.2% blueberry juice - the
remaining 99% being apple and grape juice, with a trace of
raspberry juice. POM argued that the labeling was deceptive
and presented evidence that it actually misled consumers about the
amount of pomegranate and blueberry juice in the drink. The
trial court refused to
