The FRS Company Participates In ERSP Forum
New York, NY – March 16, 2010 – The Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (ERSP) has determined that The FRS Company has provided adequate support for certain performance and establishment claims for FRS Healthy Energy Products, but recommended the marketer modify a claim that suggested the product’s key ingredient is the only antioxidant clinically proven to both support the immune system and boost energy.
The marketer’s advertising came to ERSP’s attention through an anonymous consumer challenge.
ERSP, the electronic direct-response industry’s self-regulatory forum, is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) with policy oversight by the National Advertising Review Council (NARC).
ERSP examined claims in broadcast and online advertising that included:
- “All Day Energy”; “Fight Fatigue All Day with No Crash.”
- “In fact Quercetin is the only antioxidant clinically proven to boost energy.”
- “FRS – which stands for Free Radical Scavenger (another term for anti- oxidant) was developed as a fatigue-fighting, health drink by a team of scientists, including Dr. Mitsunori Ono, PhD. It was then tested and refined by Dr. Ono and Dr. Lan Bo Chen, PhD., who at the time were both researchers atHarvardUniversity.”
- “Not only does Quercetin support the immune system like other antioxidants, but it’s clinically proven to boost energy.”
Following ERSP’s initial inquiry, the marketer asserted that it had, for reasons unrelated to the self-regulatory inquiry, voluntarily discontinued the following claims: “All Day Energy”; “Fight Fatigue All Day With No Crash”; and “In fact, Quercetin is the only antioxidant clinically proven to boost energy”.
The marketer further advised ERSP that it would voluntarily modify the context in which two of its studies are presented on the product Website and include a disclosure statement in product advertising to inform consumers about the amount of a key ingredient contained in the products.
Following its review of the evidence, ERSP determined that the marketer provided reasonable support for the claims that “FRS – which stands for Free Radical Scavenger (another term for anti-oxidant) was developed as a fatigue-fighting, health drink by a team of scientists, including Dr. Mitsunori Ono, PhD. It was then tested and refined by Dr. Ono and Dr. Lan Bo Chen, PhD., who at the time were both researchers atHarvardUniversity.”
ERSP determined that the evidence supported the marketer’s energy claims, but recommended the marketer modify the claim “Not only does Quercetin support the immune system like other antioxidants, but it’s clinically proven to boost energy.”
ERSP found that the studies submitted by the marketer provided adequate support for the remaining performance and establishment claims communicated in the advertising.
The company, in its marketer’s statement, said it is “committed to truth-in- advertising.”
“As suggested by ERSP, The FRS Company has modified the statement, ‘Not only does Quercetin support the immune system like other antioxidants, but it’s clinically proven to boost energy,’…to ensure that consumers do not interpret the statement to mean that quercetin is the only antioxidant that is both clinically proven to boost energy and support the immune system,” the company said.
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