NAD Refers Advertising For Central Coast Nutraceuticals “Colotox” To FTC, FDA For Review

New York, NY – Feb. 9, 2009 – The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus will refer advertising for Central Coast Nutraceuticals “Colotox” to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for further review, following the company’s failure to respond to an NAD inquiry.

NAD, the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum, examines claims in national advertising for truth and accuracy. As a part of its ongoing monitoring program and in conjunction with NAD’s initiative with the Council for Responsible Nutrition to expand review of advertising for dietary-supplement products, NAD requested from Central Coast Nutraceuticals substantiation of certain Internet advertising claims from FRS.

NAD requested substantiation for express claims that include the following:

“COLOTOX will help to/with:

• Remove toxic buildup
• Increase your energy levels
• Cleanse your entire system
• Decrease gas and bloating
• Reduce water retention
• Detoxify your organs
• Give you radiant hair, skin and nails
• Bad breath
• Lose excess weight

COLOTOX will help relieve these ailments:

• Chronic Fatigue
• Low energy levels
• Constipation
• Bloating
• Bad Breath
• Detoxify your organs
• Excess Weight you just can’t seem to lose”

COLOTOX is the “purest and most effective cleansing product on the market today.”

NAD also requested substantiation for the implied claims related to colon-cancer prevention, including:

• Colon cancer is currently the second leading cancer killer in the United
  States, with 60,000 Americans expected to die from the disease this year.
• “An estimated 150,000 people in America will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year, and while progress is being made to prevent and treat the disease, tragically more than 57,000 will die from it?
• “Colon cancer is one of the deadliest diseases to affect Americans?
• “The Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay reports that an average of 57,000 Americans die each year from colon cancer?
• “When colon cancer is caught late, it is survivable only 8 percent of the time?

NAD, which made several attempts to contact the advertiser, noted that it was disappointed the advertiser did not respond to the NAD’s inquiry, “especially in light of the strong health-related and weight-loss claims being made in the advertising. Pursuant to its procedures, NAD has referred the matter to the appropriate federal agencies.