FDA Regulation of Customer Reviews: DS Health Claims
Hi Everyone,
In the world of Dietary Supplments, the FDA has some rules about what manufacturers can and cannot say on their product labels or advertising. But in the world of e-commerce, customer reviews play a significant role in your product's worth in the eyes of a consumer.
I'm looking for information on whether the FDA takes issue with customers making what would amount to be a health claim or structure function claim in their review of our products. If our company said something like "this herb will prevent you from getting the flu during flu season!", there's obviously a problem with that. But if a customer leaves a review on our amazon page or store website saying "I always take this herb during flu season and haven't gotten sick in years!", are we required to delete that review? Our owner is confused on this topic (as am I) because we're trying to develop and online presence, and customer reviews are important. Should we be policing our product reviews for health claims on a regular basis?
Hi Everyone,
In the world of Dietary Supplments, the FDA has some rules about what manufacturers can and cannot say on their product labels or advertising. But in the world of e-commerce, customer reviews play a significant role in your product's worth in the eyes of a consumer.
I'm looking for information on whether the FDA takes issue with customers making what would amount to be a health claim or structure function claim in their review of our products. If our company said something like "this herb will prevent you from getting the flu during flu season!", there's obviously a problem with that. But if a customer leaves a review on our amazon page or store website saying "I always take this herb during flu season and haven't gotten sick in years!", are we required to delete that review? Our owner is confused on this topic (as am I) because we're trying to develop and online presence, and customer reviews are important. Should we be policing our product reviews for health claims on a regular basis?
No - public opinion. I probably wouldn't use it as a tag line or quote the customer for advertisement.
I agree with KfromNE and would like to add that we had a client that sold a supplement and people routinely wrote in that since taking it and taking it everyday they had never had blood clots - they put the reviews on a website and it was interestingly enough not the FDA but the FTC that contacted them and informed them they should consider placing a statement on the website that these are the testimonials from users of the product and that no representation is made by the manufacturer that the supplement will provide the same results in all people and that it is not a pharma product - not an exact quote but close to it.
They did put a disclaimer on the page and never heard from the FTC again.
The FTC did not demand it but actually used the word "should."
Thank you KfromNE and SQF Consultant! I appreciate the insight. It seems unreasonable anyway for companies to police the content of their customer reviews to that degree anyway. A large company may get hundreds of reviews every day. To scan each for potential claims just doesn't seem possible.
Interesting point about the FTC SQFConsultant, I have also read some of the literature they've put out and it aligns with your experience.
Very interesting. Take a look at the warning letter sent to Young Living about their consultants making claims on social media sites. They were using their own personal profile to post. The consultants are selling the product, so maybe if your customer is just that, a customer, claims are allowed? Rather, opinions are allowed. I do like SQFconsultant's suggestion of a disclaimer.
Very interesting. Take a look at the warning letter sent to Young Living about their consultants making claims on social media sites. They were using their own personal profile to post. The consultants are selling the product, so maybe if your customer is just that, a customer, claims are allowed? Rather, opinions are allowed. I do like SQFconsultant's suggestion of a disclaimer.
Hi rhare, yes that's an interesting find. The full warning letter is available here. I would guess that since the "consultants" are paid advertisers (the warning letter links to the company's payment plans for consultants) the content they put out is treated as company communication (advertising) and therefore subject to claims laws. A direct quote from the warning letter: