Saturday, November 17, 2007

 

Juice Plus: Prohibited Advertising Complaints

Despite official claims by National Safety Associates that Juice Plus is not promoted for the treatment, cure, or prevention of diseases, consumers have noted that such claims, which are prohibited by the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, are common. The latest apparent violation brought to our attention was posted on a Yahoo financial chat room and contains a link to the website of Juice Plus distributors Therese and Greg Belardi from Virginia Beach, VA.[1] The post claimed:

“Juice Plus not only provides energy and strength, but is proven in Medical Journals to alleviate or prevent symptoms of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and many other chronic problems. Sign on as a client, a distributor, or both. Clients get healthy, distributors get wealthy (very much so, in fact), and if you do both. . . well, you become both. Check out www.juiceplus.com/+tb23832 for more information.”[2]

In addition to being illegal, these claims are completely false. Juice Plus has never been proven to alleviate or prevent the symptoms of any disease, including cancer, heart disease, arthritis, or “chronic problems”.

Illegal disease treatment and prevention claims are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Consumers can forward complaints about Juice Plus DSHEA violations or other issues of concern to the FDA online[3] or by directly contacting the FDA's consumer complaint coordinator for your state.[4] All reports received by the FDA are kept confidential.

References
  1. National Safety Associates Juice Plus Distributor Website: Therese & Greg Belardi. http://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/pages/Home.soa?site=tb23832
  2. Yahoo Finance: Groups - Juice Plus. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Juice_Plus/#ans
  3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Reporting Unlawful Sales of Medical Products on the Internet. http://www.fda.gov/oc/buyonline/buyonlineform.htm
  4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Consumer Complaint Coordinators. http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/complain.html

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