Certain pomegranate juice products deceive consumers with dishonest labels and ingredients, reveals new consumer guide

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: pomegranate juice, pomegranates, superfruits

(NewsTarget) A new consumer guide published on NewsTarget.com reveals that some pomegranate juice products sold in grocery stores are actually made with sugar water and "junk juice" blends. While pictures on the front of the juice products show pomegranates and blueberries, the juice inside the bottle is often little more than apple and grape juice, said Mike Adams, nutrition author and producer of the free online consumer guide. Consumers can view the guide online at www.NewsTarget.com

The consumer shopping guide covers both pomegranate and blueberry juices, and it reviews nearly a dozen top brands to show which ones are telling the truth about their products vs. which ones are deceiving consumers with dishonest labeling. "The POM Wonderful brand is among the very best," explained Adams, "And the Tropicana Pure brand is among the worst. Some companies are selling products primarily made with apple juice and grape juice as pomegranate juice."

To create the free consumer guide, Adams reviewed pomegranate juice product ingredients, comparing them to the claims implied by the pictures and words on the front labels of such products. Some products made primarily with apple juice show no apples at all on the front label, instead depicting pomegranates and blueberries while claiming "100% Juice!" in big letters. "This misleads consumers into thinking these products are one hundred percent pomegranate juice," explained Adams, "When in fact, they may only be five or ten percent pomegranate juice."

Some pomegranate juice products were found to be made with high fructose corn syrup or sugar. These were blended with water, then color enhanced with purple carrot extract to make them appear like more substantial juice products. One was found to be nearly three-fourths sugar water, containing only about 25 percent actual fruit juice.

Surprisingly, one popular brand owned by Coca-Cola (Odwalla) performed very well in this consumer guide review, earning four out of five stars for its use of honest ingredients and product labeling. PepsiCo's Tropicana Pure brand, however, fared poorly, earning a very low rating and condemnation for its "deceptive" photograph on the front label that fails to accurately depict what's really in the bottle.

Consumers can view the complete guide, including information about the health benefits of pomegranate juice, at www.NewsTarget.com or by directly visiting: http://www.newstarget.com/phototour_pomegran...

The guide not only reveals the tricks some companies use to deceive consumers, it also names the top recommended pomegranate and blueberry juice products that are made with honest ingredients.

Author Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and author of hundreds of books, guides and special reports on nutrition and disease prevention. Additional information about Adams is available at www.HealthRanger.org