Wal-Mart Hit With False Ad. Class Action Over Pomegranate Cranberry Juice

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Wal-Mart falsely labels its Pomegranate-Cranberry Juice, deceiving customers into believing that pomegranate and cranberry juice are the primary juices in the product, a class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiff Cheryl Hulse of Florida alleges in her false advertising class action lawsuit that Wal-Mart’s Great Value 100% Cranberry Pomegranate Juice is largely composed of other juices and very little of the either the cranberry or pomegranate juices advertised.

“The product’s label prominently displays the words ‘Cranberry Pomegranate,’ while at the same time down plays the other words in smaller and thinner font that reveal the juice is actually a flavored apple juice concentrate and plum juice concentrate,” Hulse explains in her Wal-Mart class action lawsuit.

According to the Florida woman, consumers are drawn to products containing pomegranate and cranberry juices because of their apparent health benefits.

“It is well known that both pomegranate and cranberry juices are high in powerful antioxidants, recognized for years to be helpful in maintaining health and preventing disease,” the false advertising class action lawsuit states.

“Pomegranate juice has very high levels of unique polyphenols, potent antioxidants that are especially effective at neutralizing free radicals, helping to prevent cell and tissue damage that can lead to dysfunctions and diseases associated with aging,” it adds.

However, the problem with the juice “is that the main ingredients in the product are neither 100% pomegranate nor cranberry juice, but instead it is a mixture of cheap water and white grape juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, and plum juice concentrate,” the Wal-Mart pomegranate juice class action lawsuit explains.

The label is deceptive, Hulse says, because it says “100% Juice” right above the words “Pomegranate” and “Cranberry,” in addition to pictures on the label, which would lead “the average reasonable consumer [to] believe that they are purchasing pomegranate and cranberry juice.”

Hulse claims that she purchased the juice because she believed that she was receiving the health and nutritional benefits that come with pomegranate and cranberry juices, but that she was deceived into thinking that because of Wal-Mart’s “misleading and unfair marketing tactic.”

Hulse is seeking to represent a class of Florida residents who purchased the Wal-Mart Great Value 100% Pomegranate Cranberry Juice during the class period until the notice date of a class action settlement.

The charges against Wal-Mart in this false advertising class action lawsuit include violating Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment.

Hulse is asking that Wal-Mart be asked to provide a “full restitution of all monies wrongfully obtained as a result of the conduct described” in the pomegranate cranberry juice class action lawsuit.

This is not the first class action lawsuit Wal-Mart has faced over its cranberry pomegranate juice. A false advertising class action lawsuit was filed against Wal-Mart over the same juice in July 2014 seeking to represent a nationwide and Florida class.

Wal-Mart tried to have the July class action lawsuit dismissed in October.

Hulse is represented by Joshua H. Eggnatz and Michael J. Pascucci of Eggnatz Lopatin & Pascucci LLP.

Counsel information for Wal-Mart was not immediately available.

The Wal-Mart False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Hulse v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Case No. 3:15-cv-00233, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.