NARB Recommends Eli Nutrition Discontinue Certain Antacid Claims Made for TummyZen Dietary Supplement, Approves Other Claims

New York, NY – May 9, 2019 – A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has recommended that Eli Nutrition, Inc. discontinue certain advertising claims (while also approving others) made on product packaging and in online advertising for Eli Nutrition’s TummyZen  dietary supplement.  TummyZen is an antacid containing calcium carbonate and zinc.  The advertising at issue had been challenged by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, L.P., which sells Tums,  before the National Advertising Division (NAD).  The NAD is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.  Following the NAD’s decision, Eli Nutrition appealed to the NARB, the appellate unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation.

Agreeing with the NAD, the NARB panel recommended that Eli Nutrition discontinue the claims “total heartburn relief” and “stops acid production.”  As concerns the claim “total heartburn relief,” the panel agreed with NAD’s determination that this claim conveys a message that the product provides more benefits than is provided by occasional heartburn relief remedies, and that the communicated claim was not properly supported.

The panel also recommended that Eli Nutrition discontinue “halts the secretion of chloride Ions in your parietal cells to regulate the release of acid in your stomach” unless modified to an ingredient claim for zinc and with wording that communicates a less absolute message.  The panel recommended that the claim “long lasting” be discontinued unless it is tied directly to a comparison to certain marketed acid-neutralizing antacids.

Finally, the panel found properly supported two ingredient claims for the effect of zinc in helping to reduce stomach acid, “zinc inhibits acid secretion” and “zinc supports the stomach lining.”  In reaching this conclusion, NARB accepted as part of the totality of the relevant evidence the advertiser’s in vitro/animal research, literature references supporting zinc’s mode of action in the stomach, the advertiser’s expert declaration, and data from two clinical trials.

Eli Nutrition stated that it would comply with the NARB panel’s recommendation and expressed its appreciation for the panel findings that supported its position.

Note: A recommendation by NAD or NARB to modify or discontinue a claim is not a finding of wrongdoing and an advertiser’s voluntary discontinuance or modification of claims should not be construed as an admission of impropriety. It is the policy of NAD not to endorse any company, product, or service. Decisions finding that advertising claims have been substantiated should not be construed as endorsements.