US juice maker Pom Wonderful can sue Coca-Cola for labelling one of its drinks Pomegranate Blueberry although it contains just a trace of those juices, the US Supreme Court has ruled.
The top panel reached its decision with a vote of eight to zero.
Pom Wonderful, which sells 100 per cent pomegranate juice, claimed it suffered a loss in sales as a result of Coke's labelling practices.
The California juice company complained that the Minute Maid drink made by Coke was made almost entirely - about 99.5 per cent - from a mixture of apple and grape juice, a fact that consumers would not easily be able to discern from reading the label.
The front label of the Coca-Cola beverage, beneath the words proclaiming "pomegranate blueberry," also has the words "flavoured blend of five juices" in smaller type.
Coca-Cola had won a lower court case in San Francisco court with a ruling that the company's labelling practices were consistent with US Food and Drug Administration rules.
Coca-Cola attorney Kathleen Sullivan had argued that only the FDA was responsible for maintaining the "national uniformity" of labelling.
But the top US court rejected that argument "because Congress intended national uniformity in food and beverage labelling".
The court added that US laws require uniform labelling standards to prevent "unfair competition in all covered markets".
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