NAD Refers Advertising For Cytosport’s Muscle Milk To FTC, After Company Declines To Participate In NAD Forum

New York, NY – June 8, 2009 – The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has referred advertising claims made by CytoSport Beverage Company for its Muscle Milk product to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for further review, after CytoSport declined to participate in an NAD inquiry.

NAD, the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum, requested that CytoSport provide substantiation for certain advertising claims, following a challenge by Nestle USA.

The challenger held that Muscle Milk, marketed as a “High Protein Chocolate Milk Shake” is a dietary supplement that is sold in grocery and convenience stores alongside milk and other consumer beverages.  The challenger maintained that the claim “Muscle Milk” is false and misleading because it claims that the product contains actual milk when it does not and that consumers are likely to be misled into thinking that they are buying a flavored or supplemented milk product, when in fact, the product is a water-based dietary supplement.

Cytosport maintained that the claims for its product are truthful and non-misleading and that the product name Muscle Milk, is a non-deceptive registered trademark.  It advised NAD that because it believed NAD review was not appropriate or necessary, it would decline to participate in the NAD self-regulatory forum.  As a result, NAD has referred the matter to the FTC and FDA, pursuant to Section 2.1 (E) of NAD Procedures, for further review.