FTC Puts Nearly 700 Companies on Notice Concerning Substantiation

For background information on what these notices are, please see our article “What are FTC Notices of Penalty Offenses?”

Nearly 700 companies are now on official notice that they should not mislead consumers with product claims that cannot be backed up or substantiated. The FTC sent notices letting the recipients know that companies making claims without sufficient evidence potentially face large civil penalties from the agency.

Per FTC rules and regulations, businesses need to have sufficient proof for any statements they make about what their product can do. If a business says its product is good for your health or keeps you safe, they need to have scientific proof to support that. If a business says its product saves customers thousands of dollars or is better than the competition, they better be able to back it up.

For this round the FTC chose to limit the companies directly receiving notice to those making or likely to make health claims. However, the notice is not limited to health companies and applies to any company making claims about its products.

Below is more information about this FTC’s action, including:

• The notice companies received;
• The letter companies received accompanying the notice;
• The full list of companies that received this notice directly from the FTC.

It is important to remember that being included on the list does not in any way suggest that they have done something wrong. The FTC just wants them to know that they are watching, making it even more important that all consumer materials have a consistent and comprehensive approval process.