Regulatory authorities in the US may step up efforts to control Internet marketing of food products after Ocean Spray Cranberries were forced to remove unapproved health claims about its juices on the company website.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took action last month after Ocean Spray asserted that its juices “may help the body fight cancer” or “may help lower cholesterol” on its website. The FDA concluded that the company promoted its drinks as if they were medications, going beyond the scope of the types of claims that are permitted on foods
Ocean Spray removed the claims, but food companies are now worrying that the agency’s foray into Internet marketing could alter how food companies portray the nutritional aspects of their products.
“They have fired a shot across our bow,” said Tim Willard, a spokesman for the National Food Processors Association, an industry trade group. “We have concerns over the FDA’s jurisdiction over this.”
The FDA says such interventions are necessary when companies make health claims that may endanger the public health. Ocean Spray’s website suggested that grapefruit juice “enhances the absorption and effects of some medications,” as if the two should be taken together. A footnote in the site warned that the combination could actually be fatal.
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By GlobalDataThe action by the FDA suggests the agency is beginning to apply the same stringent standards to company websites that it does to product labels.
“People want to self-medicate,” said Dr. Walter Glinsmann, a former director of clinical nutrition for the FDA. “The FDA is worried, quite legitimately, that people may substitute these unproven forms of behaviour and therefore the patient may not see their physician.”
Ocean Spray asserts that the information on its website is accurate and reflects the emerging science on its juices.
“Hundreds of pages from the Internet are being squeezed into the narrow confines of the labelling laws,” said Chris Phillips, a spokesman for Ocean Spray. “There is a universe of literature about food nutrition, but only a few FDA-sanctioned label claims.”
Many manufacturers have increasingly steered consumers toward company websites to read studies or clinical trials in order to get around product label claims. The concern, however, is that the companies only include research which is beneficial to the product rather than those that do not, encouraging consumers to develop unrealistic expectations of a product’s curative properties.
To see our feature on marketing health claims, for part one click here & part two click here
