Swisse takes case to court
March 12, 2012
VITAMIN giant, Swisse, has
launched legal proceedings to have
a TGA ban on its advertisements
overturned (PD 07 Mar).
The TGA’s Advertising Complaints
Resolution Panel recently forced
Swisse to withdraw several TV
commercials due to breaches in
the Therapeutic Goods Advertising
Code, relating to claims of product
benefits and the degree to which
those claims could be
substantiated.
The advertisements covered 11
Swisse products including Women’s
Ultivite, Men’s Ultivite, Ultiboost
Sleep and Wild Krill Oil.
Swisse was also ordered to stop
using the slogan “You’ll feel better
on Swisse”, because the Panel
found that the company had no
proof to back up that claim.
Swisse launched appeal
proceedings on Friday, saying that
the Panel did not follow due
process, and that it had banned the
promotion of products such as its
Wild Krill Oil, which were not
included in the two anonymous
complaints that had sparked the
investigation in the first place.
As a result, the Court adjourned
the case until Wednesday, but
ordered that the Panel remove its
Swisse findings from its website.
MEANWHILE responding to the
furore, self-appointed industry
watchdog, Dr Ken Harvey, said that
the company’s Wild Krill Oil claims
such as, ‘help support cardiovascular
and joint health’ stretch the
boundaries of what is really known
about the product.
To back his position, Harvey said
that one of the clinical trials upon
which Swisse based its Wild Krill
claims had undisclosed conflict of
interests, small numbers of
participants and results which
were still pending.
“I believe that more specific
claims such as, ‘According to
clinical trials Wild Krill Oil improves
pain and inflammation associated
with arthritis, and supports joint
mobility’ and ‘It has been shown
to have positive effects on
unhealthy cholesterol levels and
the cardiovascular system’ and
‘can assist with the management
of premenstrual syndrome
symptoms such as anxiety, tension,
breast tenderness and bloating’ go
well beyond the limited and
unconfirmed clinical evidence
listed,” he said.
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