The Federal Trade Commission this week upheld an earlier decision that POM Wonderful juice and POMx supplements made deceptive claims about treating, preventing or reducing the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction. The FTC found that the company made deceptive claims in 36 advertisements and promotional materials, which goes beyond a ruling… Continue Reading
FTC
Feds to Parents: Big Food Still Exploiting Your Children; Good Luck With That
Opinion
If you wanted to ensure a report gets buried, a good time to release it would be the Friday before a holiday week. That the Federal Trade Commission released its latest report on marketing to children on that day speaks volumes about how seriously the Obama administration is taking this intractable problem. The mind-numbing 356-page document is billed as… Continue Reading
Beer Wholesalers Join Public Health to Oppose Four Loko Settlement
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission took public comments on a proposed settlement with the alcohol company Phusion Projects, which makes a beverage line called Four Loko. You might recall in 2010 how that product gained much notoriety for sending scores of college students to the emergency room as a result of its dangerous combination… Continue Reading
Eating Fruits and Vegetables is No Job Killer
An effort to get American children to eat more fruits and vegetables should, even in hyper-polarized Washington, be a no-brainer. Congress recently declared pizza sauce to be a vegetable in school lunches. Now, major food manufacturers are escalating their attacks against healthy food calling proposed food marketing guidelines “job killers” that will devastate the American… Continue Reading
Junk Food Industry Determined to Target Kids
Last week, as health advocates around the nation raced against a deadline to submit comments to the federal government on food marketing to children, the food industry was busy doing what it does best: Launching a massive PR campaign to undermine anything the feds might dare do to protect children from corporate predatory marketing. What… Continue Reading
Feds Propose Limits for Marketing Food to Kids
Four government agencies, led by the Federal Trade Commission, have announced long-awaited guidelines for food and beverage advertising targeted at children. Under the proposals released Thursday, the food industry would have five years to phase in the rules if it chooses to abide by them — the FTC says it wants food and advertising companies to voluntarily accept… Continue Reading
Why the Happy Meal is Already Illegal
When it comes to food, everybody’s got an opinion. Same goes for parenting. Mix the two together and you’ve got the makings of a culture war. Witness the recent scuffle between Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama over the White House’s rather tame Let’s Move campaign aimed at ending childhood obesity. So last month, when the… Continue Reading
Dannon Pays $21 Million for Exaggerated Claims
It sure would be nice if one serving of yogurt a day kept you regular or that a dairy drink could boost your immunity, but apparently neither claim is true. At least that’s what the Federal Trade Commission and a multi-state coalition of 39 attorneys general, led by Oregon and Tennessee, said in a deceptive-advertising settlement… Continue Reading
FTC Files Complaint Against POM Wonderful
POM Wonderful has upset another government agency by being way too enthusiastic about its products. After 19 months of investigation, the Federal Trade Commission Monday charged POM Wonderful LLC in an administrative complaint with making deceptive disease and treatment claims. FTC’s action follows the warning letter sent to POM Wonderful by the U.S. Food and… Continue Reading