Baylen Linnekin on a Battle Over Beverage Labels
This week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in POM Wonderful v. Coca-Cola, a deceptive-labeling case that pits two of America's beverage giants against one another. The case centers on Minute Maid Pomegranate Blueberry juice, made by Coke, which contains only trace amounts of pomegranate (0.3%) and blueberry (0.2%) juices. The tussle could ultimately involve the FDA in tighter regulation of beverage labels. It's not to hard to picture the agency wasting millions of dollars to determine just how much pomegranate has to be in "pomegranate" juice, writes Baylen Linnekin. That sort of regulating has already resulted in the creation of arcane, rigid, and unnecessary FDA standards of identity for foods.