The marketers of a supplement said to 'shield against toxins' have been pulled up by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for unsubstantiated product claims.
A poster for Ditox claimed that it was 'an all natural preparation which shields key organs against the toxins in many of the foods and drinks we consume'. A complaint questioning the implied efficacy of the product was upheld by the ASA.
The authority noted that the advertisers said their product comprised mainly vitamins B1 and B6, and that the role of these vitamins in fat and carbohydrate metabolism was well-documented in scientific literature. However they did not send any substantiation to support the claim, said the ASA.
It ruled that citing general health benefits of vitamins B1 and B6 was not sufficient to justify the claim and concluded that the advertisers had not substantiated it.
The issue further underlines the fine line in marketing supplements. The Authority told the advertisers to ensure that they held substantiation for all claims in their future advertisements. Ditox has withdrawn the claim and said it will submit future advertisements to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Copy Advice team.
A further complaint that the advertisement made a medicinal claim for an unauthorised product was not upheld, as the advertisers had a letter from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), formerly the Medicines Control Agency, stating that it did not object to the claims made on the advertisers' website; they asserted that the content of the website was used when preparing the poster advertisement.