04.25.12
The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has referred advertising for Serranol, a dietary supplement marketed by Good Health Naturally, Escondido, CA, to FTC for further review, after the company declined to fully participate in a NAD review of its advertising claims. As part of an initiative to expand the review of advertising claims made for dietary supplements, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), Washington D.C., challenged advertising claims made for the product. NAD, the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum, requested substantiation for the advertised health benefits of product ingredient Ecklonia Cava Extract (ECE) for people who suffer conditions that include fibromyalgia, vascular inflammation, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular conditions, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, anti-clotting disorders, memory disorders, brain function disorders, joint and nerve pain, allergies, COPD, obesity, diabetes or penile dysfunction. Additionally, the NAD called for evidence of the advertised health benefits of product ingredient Serra Enzyme. Advertisers claim this ingredient’s “wide use throughout the past 30 years…by doctors throughout the world” as an essential dietary supplement. The NAD also looked for further information on the claims that this ingredient helped “to prevent and remove dead tissue and unhealthy inflammation” from the body. With the exception of three claims, NAD recommended that the advertiser discontinue all of the challenged statements, because the company did not conduct any studies on Serranol, providing only animal studies, informal summaries, abstracts or bibliographic references in support of the majority of its ingredient claims.