A federal appeals court said Friday that many advertising claims for POM Wonderful juice were deceptive in asserting that it curbs the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction and is clinically proven to work.

In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a conclusion reached earlier by the Federal Trade Commission that many of POM's ads made misleading or false claims. The ads appeared in national publications, on Internet sites, bus stops, billboards, newsletters and on tags attached to the products.

POM Wonderful LLC produces a number of pomegranate-based products.

"We see no basis for setting aside the commission's conclusion that many of POM's ads made misleading or false claims about POM products," wrote appeals judge Sri Srinivasan, an appointee of President Barack Obama.

The Federal Trade Commission Act does not allow, "and the First Amendment does not protect — deceptive and misleading advertisements," Srinivsan wrote.

The other two judges in the case were chief appeals judge Merrick Garland and appeals judge Douglas Ginsburg. Garland was nominated by President Bill Clinton, Ginsburg by President Ronald Reagan.