DOH AMENDS CHECKLIST OF MISLEADING CLAIMS IN FOOD-STUFF ADVERTISING

07/01/2005

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On 31 March 2005 the Department of Health (DOH) announced amendments to the Checklist of Exaggerated and Misleading Statements and Claims of Medical Efficacy in Foodstuff Adver-tising or Labeling. This Checklist was last amended on 31 July 1999, and is no longer ap-propriate considering the current environment. After studying the regulatory systems in other countries such as the USA and Japan, examining the cases of illegal advertising and labeling that it has investigated in recent years, and soliciting opinions from interested parties, the DOH amended the principles for determing whether a statement is a claim of medical efficacy, exag-gerated or misleading. The main amendments are as follows:

Under Paragraph 1, Article 19 of the Food Hygiene Control Act, labeling, publicity, or advertisements for foodstuffs or food addi-tives must not include untrue, exaggerated, or misleading statements. Under Paragraph 2, Article 19 of the Act, labeling, publicity, or advertisements for foodstuffs must not contain medical claims. Thus, the regulatory system classifies the wording of foodstuff advertising and labeling into three categories: 1. wording that suggests medical efficacy; 2. wording that is exaggerated or misleading; and 3. wording that does not suggest medical efficacy, and is not exaggerated or misleading.

Labeling and advertisements for health foods are subject to the relevant provisions of the Health Food Control Act, and are not covered by the Checklist.

With regard to the products that are suspected of violating the above provisions, central and local public health authorities should make a decision of the merits of the individual case, based on the overall message that is conveyed to consumers, including text, product name, image, and symbol. They should not be pe-dantic in their approach, in order to maintain a stringent but fair regulatory system.