• Brandweek , Wednesday, July 23, 2008 10:45 AM

Ruling that marketing for Purely Juice was misleading when it claimed that it was "100% pure pomegranate juice," a federal court in Los Angeles ordered the company to pay $1.5 million in damages to Pom Wonderful, which is widely credited with having created demand for the product. Purely Juice is one of many new products that hopped on the pomegranate bandwagon after the fruit became a hot ingredient for everything from candles to soaps to juices.

Seven different labs showed found that Purely Juice contained trace amounts of pomegranate juice and a healthy dose of high-fructose corn syrup. Purely Juice CEO Paul Hachigian says the product in question was a result of "a supply chain issue" during one production period and says the company started shipping an all-new product once it became aware of the problem.

"Healthy competition is one thing, but they lied," says Lynda Resnick, owner of Pom Wonderful, pointing out that only 4% of the population had tasted pomegranate juice when Pom started marketing it in 2002. "Now there are 950 products that claim to contain pomegranates," she says. "There aren't enough pomegranate groves on the planet to supply the products in the marketplace."

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