Fact-Checking Claims on the Wonders of Pomegranate Juice

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/05/fact-checking-claims-on-the-wonders-of-pomegranate-juice/257665/



POM Wonderful has a full-page ad in today's New York Times (how much do these things cost?) titled "FTC v. POM: You be the judge." The ad includes selected quotes from the judge's decision (see yesterday's post) and refers readers to its wonderfully named website, pomtruth.com, where you can see the quotes and the ads for yourself.

I couldn't help doing some checking.

The POM ad quotes from Chief Administrative Law Judge's decision:

'Competent and reliable scientific evidence supports the conclusion that the consumption of pomegranate juice and pomegranate extract supports prostate health, including by prolonging PSA doubling time in men with rising PSA after primary treatment for prostate cancer (page 282).'

I turned immediately to page 282. The sentence before the one quoted would seem to support it:

'The basic research, the Pantuck Study, and the Carducci Study, relied on by Respondents [POM Wonderful], support the conclusion that pomegranate juice has a beneficial effect on prostate health.
But what follows the quotation makes it clear that although the research claims to support the effect, it really doesn't. Here's what immediately follows the quotation in the same paragraph:

However, the greater weight of the persuasive expert testimony shows that the evidence relied upon by Respondents is not adequate to substantiate claims that the POM Products treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of prostate cancer or that they are clinically proven to do do so. Indeed, the authors of the Pantuck Study and the Carducci study each testified that their study did not conclude that POM juice treats, prevents, or reduces the risk of prostate cancer. And, as Respondents' expert conceded, no clinical studies, research and/or trials show definitely that the POM Products treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

[BlueToTheBone]

1. Well that's just pomtastic advertising! n/t

[xchrom]

2. Pomwonderful, even. nt

[BlueToTheBone]

3. wouldn't that by Pomderful?

[xchrom]

4. I keep trying to figure out how to marry fabulous & pom.

Pomulous? Not quite right.

[BlueToTheBone]

5. Pomabulous?

[xchrom]

6. Oh that's VERY good.

I may have to get that to RuPaul so she can use it in a cocktail commercial!

'Its Pomabulous, Darling'

[BlueToTheBone]

7. What a hoot! n/t

[Warpy]

8. More like pombastic advertising

If you love the stuff, by all means drink it. However, it's like all those other food "cures," you'd have to drink enough to turn your skin purple to get any noticeable changes and those changes would likely be bad ones.

[Celebration]

9. I'll stick to beet juice n/t

[HuckleB]

10. Good work. I figured as much, but I'm just too lazy to care anymore.