News Release: Popular POM juice producer among California’s leading users of paraquat
The Wonderful Company, California-based maker of the popular pomegranate juice POM, is the state’s second-largest user of paraquat – a toxic herbicide banned in over 60 countries – a new Environmental Working Group investigation finds. Studies have found a strong connection between paraquat exposure and an elevated risk of Parkinson’s disease. The chemical has also been linked with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and childhood leukemia. … Wonderful’s brands include POM pomegranate juice, Landmark Vineyards wine and Fiji Water, among many others. In 2021 alone, Wonderful sprayed more than 56,000 pounds of paraquat on California fields where it grows pistachios, almonds and pomegranates, according to state and county records analyzed by EWG. … The herbicide can remain in soil for years.