Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in a case debating whether a drink made by Coca-Cola containing only trace amounts of fruit juice can be labeled as "Pomegranate Blueberry Flavored Blend of 5 Juices."
- The lawsuit, filed by rival POM Wonderful, has major implications for truth-in-labeling laws. The FDA has declined to set rigid standards in labels that use words like "natural" and "juice" -- a point which Coke used in its defense before the High Court.
- The justices appeared to question Coke's line of reasoning, suggesting that the court will rule that POM (or consumers) are free to sue over misleading labels.
Dive Insight:
It's risky to try to guess what the members of the Supreme Court might be thinking. But the consensus among observers yesterday was that the justices took a dim view of Coke's claims that a) the inaction of the FDA means a label is OK, and b) the onus is on consumers to be sophisticated enough to know that labeling a drink as pomegranate and blueberry blend doesn't mean it has much pomegranate and blueberry juice.
The significance of such a ruling is considerable. If the court rules for POM, it means that food and beverage companies will be hard-pressed to argue that it's up to the FDA to decide what is, and isn't, misleading. That would be bad news for those companies already facing a slew of lawsuits in the so-called "food court."