A Holiday Surprise; FTC Published Its Health Products Compliance Guidance
January 11, 2023On Dec. 20, 2022, FTC announced the publication of its Health Products Compliance Guidance (“new Guidance”). FTC staff prepared the new Guidance to update and replace Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry, issued in 1998 (“1998 Guidance”). The new Guidance provides the first update in 25 years on FTC’s thinking regarding substantiation and disclosures for health-related claims.
An accompanying blog post touts the new Guidance as potentially “one of the most important documents you’ll read in 2022.” We are inclined to agree, given that the new Guidance applies to all products making health-related claims, including food, over-the-counter drugs, homeopathic products, health equipment, diagnostic tests, and health-related apps.
The FTC maintains that the legal fundamentals of its guidance on substantiation remain unchanged, but a close reading indicates otherwise. For example, the substantiation standard remains competent and reliable evidence. However, the 1998 Guidance was equivocal with respect to the number or type of studies required to substantiate advertising claims. It focused on the totality of the evidence and considered all types of evidence, including animal, in vitro, and epidemiological evidence. While recognizing that well-controlled human clinical studies are the “most reliable,” the 1998 Guidance did not claim that such studies are the only form of acceptable substantiation, and acknowledged that animal and in vitro studies could be acceptable in some circumstances. In contrast, the new Guidance states that “[a]s a general matter, substantiation of health-related benefits will need to be in the form of randomized, controlled human clinical testing (RCTs) to meet the competent and reliable scientific standard. . . . Animal and in vitro studies may provide useful supporting or background information, but, without confirmation by human RCTs, they aren’t sufficient to substantiate health-related claims.”
As an additional example, the 1998 Guidance stated that the FTC would accept epidemiologic evidence when supported by other evidence, such as research explaining the biological mechanism underlying the claimed effect. In contrast, the new Guidance suggests that FTC only will accept “high-quality” epidemiologic evidence in “limited cases where (1) it is considered an acceptable substitute for RCTs by experts in the field; and (2) RCTs aren’t otherwise feasible.”
The new Guidance includes 23 new examples (among a total of 53) of FTC’s thinking applied to advertising of supplements and other products, such as a children’s nutrition drink, an infant formula, nasal strips, and a smartphone app for treating acne.
The new Guidance also provides more detail on “clear and conspicuous disclosure,” noting that disclosures must be unavoidable. Hyperlink disclosures do not meet the clear and conspicuous standard because they are avoidable. The new Guidance emphasizes the need for disclosures made both visually and audibly when claims are made in both formats, and also addresses specific groups of targeted consumers. For example, “[w]hen an endorsement targets a specific audience, such as older adults or children, the effectiveness of the disclosure will be judged from the perspective of a member of that group.”
The FTC’s new Guidance does not have the force and effect of law. Rather, it is “intended to help advertisers comply with the basic tenets of FTC law,” and as stated in FTC’s blog post, “it offers practical perspectives from FTC staff.” The FTC did not seek public comment prior to issuing the new Guidance.