A post went viral on r/mildlyinfuriating showing a bottle of "100% Pure Pomegranate Juice" where the actual ingredients listed apple juice concentrate first, grape juice concentrate second, and pomegranate juice third. Hundreds of comments.
Everyone was outraged. And most people had no idea this was legal.
Pomegranate juice adulteration is a documented, published-in-scientific-journals problem. It's expensive to produce — pomegranates have a low juice yield — so the incentive to dilute with cheap apple or grape concentrate is enormous. If you're paying $7–12 for a bottle, you should know whether you're getting real pomegranate.
What "100% Juice" Actually Means in Canada
Under CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) regulations, "100% juice" means the product contains only juice and water — no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners. It does not mean 100% pomegranate.
A product can legally say "100% juice" on the front label while being 80% apple juice and 20% pomegranate juice. As long as there's no added sugar, the "100% juice" claim holds. The actual juice composition is only revealed in the ingredients list on the back.
This is how most "pomegranate juice" products on Canadian shelves work. The word "pomegranate" is in huge type on the front.
The word "blend" is in tiny type underneath. The ingredients list tells the real story.
How to Read the Label: A 30-Second Guide
- Flip the bottle over. Ignore the front entirely. The front is marketing.
- Read the ingredients list. In Canada, ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight. If "pomegranate juice" or "pomegranate juice from concentrate" is first, you're good. If apple or grape juice appears before pomegranate, you're buying apple juice with pomegranate flavouring.
- Check for the word "blend" or "cocktail." "Pomegranate juice blend" = mixed with other juices. "Pomegranate juice cocktail" = may contain added sugar. Neither is 100% pomegranate.
- Look at the colour. Real pomegranate juice is a deep, opaque reddish-purple. If it's translucent bright red, it's likely diluted or is mostly other juice.
Red Flags
"Apple juice concentrate" in the ingredients — This is the #1 diluter. It's cheap, sweet, and nearly flavourless, making it perfect for bulking up expensive pomegranate juice.
"Natural flavours" on a juice bottle — If it's really 100% pomegranate juice, why does it need added flavours? This usually indicates a diluted product where pomegranate flavour is added back artificially.
Price too good to be true — 100% pomegranate juice costs $10–18/litre at Canadian retail. If you're seeing it for $4/litre, it's a blend.
"Pomegranate flavoured" — This isn't even pretending. It's a flavoured drink, not juice.
Green Flags
Single ingredient: "Pomegranate juice" or "Pomegranate juice from concentrate" — nothing else listed.
Tart and slightly astringent taste: Real pomegranate juice has a tannic bite — like strong tea. If it tastes purely sweet with no bitterness, it's probably diluted.
Dark colour with some opacity: The tannins and anthocyanins create a deep, rich colour that's hard to fake with just apple juice and food colouring.
Price matches reality: $12–18/litre for NFC, $8–14/litre for from-concentrate. Anything less is suspect.
Brand-by-Brand: What's Real in Canada
POM Wonderful
Real pomegranate juice. The 100% Pomegranate variety lists only "pomegranate juice from concentrate" as the ingredient.
POM also sells blends (Pomegranate Blueberry, Pomegranate Cherry, etc.) — those are mixed juices, clearly labelled. The straight pomegranate is legit. If you want to sort straight juice vs blends, concentrate status, price per litre, and Canadian retailer availability, use the brand comparison tool.
Kirkland Signature (Costco)
The frozen concentrate from Costco is a blend. Check the ingredients — it typically includes grape and apple juice concentrate alongside pomegranate.
It's decent for mixing into smoothies or recipes, but it's not straight pomegranate juice. The price ($6.79 for ~1.89L reconstituted) reflects this.
R.W. Knudsen Just Pomegranate
The "Just Pomegranate" variety is 100% pomegranate juice from concentrate. They also sell a "Pomegranate Juice" that's a blend — the naming is confusing by design. Look for "Just" on the label.
PC Organics
The Loblaws/No Frills house brand pomegranate juice is a blend with apple juice. It costs less because it is less. Fine for casual drinking, but you're not getting the polyphenol density of straight pomegranate.
Turkish and Persian Imports
If you live near a Middle Eastern grocery store (common in the GTA, Vancouver, Montreal), you'll often find imported pomegranate juice from Turkey or Iran. Brands like Tamek, Dimes, and various unbranded bottles.
These are frequently 100% pomegranate and often cheaper than POM Wonderful. Quality varies — taste-test before buying a case. The best ones are distinctly tart and complex.
The Adulteration Problem
Scientific papers have documented widespread pomegranate juice fraud. A 2014 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry tested commercial pomegranate juices and found that many contained detectable levels of grape or apple concentrate not declared on the label.
The economics are straightforward. Pomegranate juice concentrate costs roughly 5–8x more than apple juice concentrate. Cutting expensive pomegranate with cheap apple is profitable and hard to detect without lab analysis.
In Canada, the CFIA is responsible for enforcing labelling accuracy. If you suspect a product is mislabelled, you can file a complaint through the CFIA's online reporting tool. Whether they act on individual complaints is another matter — but documented fraud in food labelling is taken seriously when patterns emerge.
The simplest rule: If the ingredient list has one item — "pomegranate juice" or "pomegranate juice from concentrate" — and the price seems right, you're almost certainly getting real pomegranate juice. If you see multiple juice concentrates listed, you're getting a blend, regardless of what the front label says.
From Concentrate vs. Not From Concentrate
Both can be "real" pomegranate juice. The difference is processing.
From concentrate (FC): Juice is extracted, water is removed to create a concentrate (cheaper to ship), then water is added back. Some heat-sensitive polyphenols may be reduced, but punicalagins are relatively heat-stable. Most brands in Canada are from concentrate, including POM Wonderful.
Not from concentrate (NFC): Juice is extracted and bottled directly. Generally considered higher quality.
Harder to find in Canada — you'll mostly see it at Whole Foods or specialty health food stores. Costs 30–50% more than from-concentrate.
The polyphenol difference between FC and NFC is smaller than you might expect. A 2011 study found that punicalagin content in reconstituted concentrate retained 80–90% of the original levels. The bigger quality variable is the source fruit and processing method, not the concentrate question.
Information on this page is based on Canadian labelling regulations and product ingredients as of March 2026. Product formulations can change.
Always read the current label. For concerns about food labelling compliance, contact the CFIA at inspection.gc.ca.