FTC Puts the Final Squeeze on OJ Company for Questionable Claims
After a year-plus of wrangling with the FTC, Tropicana has agreed to discontinue its claim that drinking its Heart Healthy juice is guaranteed to lower bad cholesterol.
The FTC alleged that many of the claims made to consumers regarding its Tropicana Orange Juice were unsubstantiated, including the claim that Tropicana had clinical evidence to support a 10-point drop in blood pressue simply by drinking three glasses of its juice a day.
Without admitting guilt, Tropicana agreed to a consent order that would prohibit claims that any of its products will have a positive effect on the risk of heart disease, cancer, or stroke, unless it is substantiated with “competent and reliable scientific evidence.”
Given the current concern over obescity in America, its likely that the FTC will continue to look closely and carefully at food claims.
Practice Pointer: Until recently, many companies regarded an “FTC Warning” as advisory in nature. Clients who are making claims relating to food products should be made aware that the FTC appears now to be cracking down on health claims (be they “low fat,” “heart healthy,” or otherwise), and more and more companies will feel the weight of Congress behind them.