NAD Refers Advertising for ‘PhytoZon’ to FTC for Further Review after American Dream Nutrition Declines to Participate in NAD Review

New York, NY – Oct. 21, 2015  – The National Advertising Division has referred advertising claims made by American Dream Nutrition, LLC, for the dietary supplement PhytoZon to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for further review after the company declined to participate in an NAD proceeding.

NAD is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. It is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The claims at issue were challenged by the Council for Responsible Nutrition and include:

• With Hundreds of Research Documents and Clinical Studies, PhytoZon has shown to help with:

• Brain/Body Balance – Mental Claritin, Focus/Recall
• Mental Cognition and Concentration
• Energy, Vitality, Increased Strength, Well Being
• Pain, Inflammation, Arthritis, Osteoarthritis
• Joint Health, Flexibility, Endurance
• Sports Injuries, Back Pain, Neck Pain
• Enhanced DNA Repair on a Cellular Level
• Helps Cells Produce IGF-1, Repairing/Rebuilding Cartilage
• Heart Health, Eye Health, So Much More…
  

• “Helped Lower My Blood Sugar”
• “Helped Manage My Breast Cancer”
• “Helped with my Macular Degeneration”

NAD noted in its decision that the challenged claims promise consumers that the advertiser’s product “helps” a wide range of health issues, including extremely serious health conditions such as cancer, arthritis, and macular degeneration.

NAD further noted that couching the claims as establishment claims by referencing “research” and “clinical studies” can convey to consumers the message that the claimed benefits have been proven by rigorous and reliable scientific study. Given the potential impact of these claims, NAD was disappointed that the advertiser declined to participate in the self-regulatory forum’s inquiry into the truthfulness and accuracy of these claims.

The company, in its advertiser’s statement, said that although it “appreciates NAD’s diligence in self-regulation,” it would decline to participate in the self-regulatory process.

In light of that decision, NAD has referred the matter to the FTC and FDA for further review.