Dannon's Costly Yogurt Claims
If you haven’t seen Jamie Lee Curtis in the commercials, you have seen 
the products in the yogurt section at the grocery store. “It Works Or Your Money Back!” is the guarantee that Dannon makes regarding the ability of Activia, its probiotic line of dairy products, to boost digestive system health and immunity. Now an Ohio judge has signed a settlement agreement (pdf) in which the company agreed to pay up to $45 million as part of a class action settlement.
Consumers sued Dannon alleging that the health claims regarding the yogurt were false and mislead the public into paying a premium for the yogurt. Dannon disagrees with the allegations in the suit, and maintains that it did nothing wrong. However, as if often the case in litigation, the company decided to avoid the cost of a trial by settling with the other side.
Among other things, the settlement agreement requires the company to remove the phrases “clinically proven” and “scientifically proven” from labels and advertisements for Activia and other related products, and replace those phrases with something like “clinical studies show”. Dannon must also place qualifying statements on the products’ labels and company’s website that explain that the yogurt and other products are not intended to treat medical conditions, and that consumers eating the products will not see an immediate improvement to digestive health.
This should be a warning to all functional food companies; make sure you think VERY carefully about how you present the benefits of your products and assume that your customers will sue you if the product does not work exactly as described on your labels or advertisements.
http://www.essentialnutritionlaw.com/admin/trackback/192232
