Ok, maybe not, but you've seen them - claims like the one in the scan above clipped from this month's Chatelaine. It reads,
"You balance it all and then some. You're a super woman. That's why there's new Maximmunite, a delicious probiotic drink with 10 billion active probiotic cultures per serving that helps strengthen your body's immune system"Well in the States at least, the Centre for Science in the Public Interest has had enough. Yesterday they filed a formal complaint with the FDA to try to reign in some of the more ridiculous claims made by products including yogurt.
Claims such as Crystal Light Immunity Berry Pomegranate that makes the same claim as the Maximmunite above of helping,
"maintain a healthy immune system"Minute Maid Enhanced Juice Blend Omega-3 DHA Pomegranate Blueberry Flavored Blend of 5 Juices that purports to,
"help nourish your brain"Sunsweet PlumSmart for Digestive Health Plum Juice Extra with Fiber that claims to,
"keep your digestive system healthy"And Minute Maid Enhanced Juice Active 750 mg Glucosamine HCL that they report helps,
"protect cartilage and joints"Basically CSPI wants Big Food to have to prove their product can in fact deliver on their claims. Perhaps they said it best in their press release on the matter,
"When companies claim their products will “maintain a healthy immune system,” consumers believe this means those products will help ward off disease. But while vitamins A, C, and E are important for the functioning of just about every system in the human body, there’s little evidence to suggest that drinking Crystal Light will have any impact on the average person’s immune system."Wanna read more about baseless and potentially fraudulent yogurt claims? Click here to head over to the websites of Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman & Robbins LLP to read their press release about the class action lawsuit they've launched against Dannon with regards to their yogurts Activia and DanActive.
Mmmmmmm, brain nourishment....
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