A recent ASA ruling features a misleading food supplement ad that combines medicinal claims and exaggerated unsupported health claims.
Claims which state or imply that a food can prevent, treat or cure human disease, i.e. medicinal claims are prohibited. The ASEA LLC ad made the following non-compliant medicinal claims:
- “Regulates inflammatory response’’
- “100% kill in under 30 seconds for all tested bacteria and viruses (over 30 resistant strains)’’
Only authorised health claims appearing on GB Nutrition and Health Claims Register can be used. Specific health claims concerning a particular nutrient’s benefit to health within an area, system or process in the body, appear in the register. A general health claim refers to a general benefit of a nutrient or food for overall good health and needs to be accompanied by a specific authorised health claim.
The ASEA LLC ad made several non-compliant health claims:
- Specific health claims: “Triggers genetic expression: Improves Immune system function […] Promotes […] enzyme production Restores hormonal balance”; “Supports the vital activity of cellular communication”; “Protects against free radical damage”; “Boosts antioxidant efficiency by 500-800% in just 72 hours”; “Improves athletic performance”; and “Increases endurance. Increases power output. Increases VO2 Max. Speeds recovery. Increases circulation to an area by 50% in just 15 minutes. Positive shifts in up to 43 metabolites. Increases burn of fat fuels by up to 33%.”
- General health claims: “‘Asea is a key part of detox protocol from Graphene Oxide and shedding’”, “Improves cardiovascular health” and “Promotes gut health […] Restores hormonal balance”. However, the ad did not contain any specific authorised health claims.
ASEA LLC t/a ASEA Redox responded that one of their distributors was the source of the misleading ad. It was not approved to be used in the UK, and it would have been flagged by their compliance department if they had seen it. They said they would take steps to prevent it being used again.To learn more about how to successfully market food supplements join our Food Supplements Advertising Workshop – the next one is on Tuesday 19 September.
