U. S. Food and Drug Administration
FDA Consumer
September 1994
FTC Models Advertising Policy
On FDA Food Labeling Standards
To prevent deceptive or misleading claims, food advertising will now be
held to the same standards as food labeling, the Federal Trade Commission
has announced. In a 28-page enforcement policy slatement issued last
May (1994), FTC said it generally will look to standards set by the
Food and Drug Administration's food labeling regulations to evaluate
whether nutrient and health claims in advertising are deceptive.
The goal, FTC said, is to ensure that food advertising messages are
consistent with those on food labels. Among the FDA standards FTC said it
is adopting are:
- definitions for terms such as "low," "high" and "lean"
to describe the amount of nutrients (such as fat, saturated fat,
cholesterol, and fiber) when they are used in the same context
in advertising.
- definitions for unqualified comparative claims, such as "less", "reduced"
and "more," including the minimum percentage differences
- the requirement for "significant scientific agreement" in determining
whether there is adequate substantiation for an unqualified health
claim in advertising
- limits for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium in making
a health claim.
Copies of the statement are available
from FTC's Public Reference Branch,
Room 130, 6th St. and Pennsylvania
Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20580;
telephone (202)326-2222; TDD for the
hearing impaired (202)326-2502
FTC World Wide Web Site
Full Text of
FTC
Regulations
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