FTC Denies Petition for Ad Guidelines

FTC Denies Petition for Ad Guidelines

WASHINGTON--The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Dec. 5 that it haddenied a petition requesting further guidance from the agency on substantiationof advertising claims for dietary supplements. The December 1999 petition hadsought a rule allowing advisory opinions on the meaning of its scientificstandards for "structure/function claim" advertising or a ruleoutlining how the agency evaluates scientific evidence when evaluating suchclaims.

In FTC's letter to Emord & Associates, counsel for the joint plaintiffs(Julian Whitaker et. al.), the agency stated that its Supplement AdvertisingGuide, issued in November 1998, provides "sufficiently specific andconcrete guidance about the 'competent and reliable scientific evidence'standard." It further noted that "competent and reliable scientificevidence" is FTC's standard for claims relating to the health or safety ofa product, and that the FTC Act mandates two basic obligations: that advertisingbe truthful and non-misleading and that advertisers have adequatesubstantiation.

Emord's media release noted that the petitioners are contemplating whether totake any additional legal action. For more information, visit www.emord.comor www.ftc.gov.