NAD NARCs out FucoPure to FTC

NEW YORK—The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB) is referring advertising for the nutritional ingredient FucoPure, from Elmwood Park, N.J.-based Nutraceuticals International, to FTC for review. Under its National Advertising Review Council (NARC) terms, NAD had asked the company for substantiation of certain claims for its product following a challenge to its advertising filed by Morristown, N.J.-based P.L. Thomas. Nutraceuticals International responded to NAD and received an extension to submit its substantiation, but did not submit by that deadline and has not participated further in the review process.

Claims at issue for FucoPure concerned its positioning as a clinically substantiated weight loss ingredient, as well as superiority and exclusivity claims for the fucoxanthin extract. NAD sought additional substantiation for disease claims related to combating obesity, hyperlipidemia and type II diabetes.