The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has delivered testimony before the U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging that highlights examples of deceptive or questionable marketing practices involving certain dietary supplements. GAO also reported that some herbal dietary supplements contained contaminants, including trace amounts of lead. According to GAO Managing Director of Forensic Audits and Special Investigations Gregory Kutz, investigators posing as elderly customers asked sales staff at 22 retail establishments a series of questions regarding herbal dietary supplements in addition to reviewing 30 retail websites’ “written marketing language” about the supplements. In several cases that both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission deemed “improper and likely in violation of statutes and regulations,” “written sales materials for products sold through online retailers claimed that herbal dietary supplements could treat, prevent or cure conditions such as diabetes, cancer, or cardiovascular disease.” Improper medical advice was also dispensed by…
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it had sent warning letters to 11 companies that promote omega-3 fatty acid dietary supplements. The letters indicated that the companies should review their product labeling and packaging claims, as well as product advertising, to ensure that the claims are adequately substantiated. The commission’s issuance of these letters is significant because of the FTC’s action to regulate dietary supplement labeling claims, an area that has for nearly four decades been regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Commission Takes Aim at Ad Links Between Omega 3 and Children’s Visual and Mental Development According to a February 16, 2010, press release, [FN 1] the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices in January sent warning letters to 11 companies that promote supplement products containing omega-3 fatty acids intended for use by children ages 2 years and older. The letters reference an investigation the FTC conducted…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it sent letters to 11 unnamed companies in late January 2010, warning that their promotions and product packaging for omega-3 fatty acid supplements may violate the law “by making baseless claims about how the supplements benefit children’s brain and vision function and development.” FTC apparently gave the companies until February 8 to respond and explain what they have done or will do to ensure they are complying with the law, that is, that their health-related claims “are substantiated.” FTC provides as an example of substantiation “well-conducted, clinical cause-and-effect studies demonstrating that the use of the combination of Omega-3 fatty acids provided in Product X, in the same dosage as provided by one serving of the product, improves or promotes brain function, cognitive function, attention span, intelligence, memory, learning ability, and visual acuity in normal children ages 2 years and older.” The agency…
This op-ed article examines the environmental sustainability of fish oil as more and more consumers are reportedly choosing supplements “as a guilt-free way of getting their omega-3 fatty acids.” According to author Paul Greenberg, most fish oil “comes from a creature upon which the entire Atlantic coastal ecosystem relies, a bigheaded, smelly, foot-long member of the herring family called menhaden,” which one historian has apparently likened to the passenger pigeon in terms of rapid population decline. Once harvested for fertilizer and lamp oil, “trillions of menhaden were ground into feed for hogs, chicken and pets” after the advent of petroleum-based lamps. “Today,” writes Greenberg, “hundreds of billions of pounds of them are converted into lipstick, salmon feed, paint,‘buttery spread,’ salad dressing and, yes, some of those omega-3 supplements you have been forcing on your children.” He argues that menhaden “keep the water clean,” claiming that the “muddy brown color of the…
A federal court in Connecticut has ordered the payment of $1.9 million in equitable restitution to consumers who purchased Chinese Diet Tea and Bio-Slim Patch in 2003-2004. FTC v. Bronson Partners, LLC, No. 04-1866 (D. Conn., decided December 4, 2009). The court determined in 2008 that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) claims of false advertising against the defendants had merit and issued this ruling to explain the basis for its damages award and why it was not allowing any offsets to the defendants from the gross amounts they received for all of the products sold. Essentially, the court found that the defendants’ poor recordkeeping and legal precedent did not allow offsets for credit card refunds, bounced checks, operating expenses, or revenue generated by reorders, which defendants claimed represented satisfied customers. According to the court, reorders could also have represented customers who “had not yet achieved the results promised in the…
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed lawsuits against companies that make, market or supply açai berry products, touted as weight loss dietary supplements, charging that they are scamming consumers with aggressive marketing campaigns, prematurely billing their credit cards, not always supplying the product ordered, and making it nearly impossible to cancel once a “free trial” has been implemented. The product ads purportedly feature images of celebrities such as Rachel Ray, Oprah Winfrey, Mehmet Oz, M.D., Gwyeth Paltrow or Courtney Love, despite their alleged lack of a promotional contract with the companies. The complaints seek injunctive relief, restitution and civil penalties.
Acting on behalf of an apparently energized Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a complaint for injunction against a New Jersey company and its owner seeking to halt the manufacture and sale of their dietary supplement products, in part, for failure to comply with good manufacturing practice requirements. U.S. v. Quality Formulation Labs., Inc., No. 09-03211 (D.N.J., filed July 1, 2009). The complaint alleges that the defendants have caused their protein powders and other dietary supplements to be adulterated “in that they have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have become contaminated with filth (as a result of rodent activity) or may have been rendered injurious to health (as a result of cross-contamination with a major food allergen).” The allergen at issue is milk. The complaint also alleges that one of the defendants’ articles of food is adulterated “in…
A putative class action has been filed in a federal court in California against the company that makes Redline® beverages and supplements, alleging that some of the ingredients cause “effects that go beyond the Product’s goal of energy enhancement and weight loss.” Aaronson v. Vital Pharms., Inc., No. 09-1333 (S.D. Cal., filed June 19, 2009). While the product labels apparently warn consumers about potential effects such as rapid heartbeat, dizziness, headache, and shortness of breath, the named plaintiff contends that the warnings are inadequate. According to the complaint, the defendant markets the product as a drug without having obtained Food and Drug Administration approval. Alleging violations of California consumer protection laws, fraudulent concealment, breach of express and implied warranties, negligence, and design and manufacturing defects, the plaintiff seeks to certify a nationwide class of product purchasers. The plaintiff also asks the court to enjoin the defendant’s deceptive marketing and award actual…
A Texas resident has filed a putative class action in a New Jersey federal court against the manufacturer of a fruit blend, which he alleges is falsely advertised as a product that helps control blood pressure and flush sodium. Slaughter v. Unilever United States, Inc., No. 09-2072 (D.N.J., filed May 1, 2009). At issue is Unilever’s SuperShots®, a fruit blend in three flavors sold in small “shot”-sized bottles. Each contains 350 mg of potassium and is allegedly promoted as a functional food that “will enable consumers to help control blood pressure and flush sodium from their bodies.” According to the complaint, the product does not have this effect and has not been subjected to any clinical trials. The plaintiff seeks to certify a nationwide class of product purchasers and alleges violations of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, breach of implied and express warranties and unjust enrichment. He seeks restitution, disgorgement, monetary…
