NAD Refers Serranol Supplement Ads to FTC

NEW YORKThe National Advertising Division (NAD), a division of the Better Business Bureau (BBB),  has referred advertising for Serranol dietary supplement to FTC for further review, after the product's marketer, Good Health Naturally, declined to fully participate in an NAD review of its advertising claims. Under its program with NAD, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) challenged advertising claims made for the product, and NAD subsequently requested substantiation for the claims. It issued recommendations of advertising changes to the marketer, which failed to confirm it would make the changes.

Among the claims challenged, included:

NAD recommended that the advertiser discontinue all but three of the challenged claims, stating the company did not conduct any studies on the Serranol product itself and provided only animal studies, informal summaries, abstracts or bibliographic references in support of the majority of its ingredient claims.  In the end, NAD determined that the very few in vitro and in vivo full-text studies submitted by the advertiser were insufficient to support the advertisers strong health claims.  NAD further determined the advertiser did not produce any evidence to support its safety claims, although the advertiser is free to tout that ECE is an edible brown algae.  NAD also found the marketer had a reasonable basis to claim curcumin in Serranol reduces inflammation in joints and ECE is an antioxidant.  

For more information on advertising claims regulation, check out the "Claims Substantiation and Compliance" seminar at SupplySide MarketPlace trade show education program, May 9 in New York City.  Visit the SupplySide website for more details .