Blogs can easily cross the line from “education” to “disease claims” < Back Best Practices For Reducing Risk in Blogs Blogs can easily cross the line from “education” to “disease claims” This year, there have been five warning letters that include claims made in blogs, and the line between what is allowable and what is a claim continues to shrink. #WarningLetterWednesday It is easy for a well-intentioned content writer to cross the line from education into the disease claim category, which I wrote this post. I break blogs into two categories. Both are considered marketing and must be compliant, but dividing them into two categories helps clients understand how rigid they want their compliance to be. Ideally, there would be no "educational" or "science" blogs on a commercial website, but few companies follow this path. The life of a consultant is helping companies understand risk while also supporting their real-world, compliant and effective marketing. This is fun! Informational & Product Blogs Informational blogs: These are not intended to sell a product but are used to educate about ingredients and science. Crossing the line from informational into a product blog is very easy, so extreme care should be used. Removing all calls to action, such as linking to a shopping cart, can help lessen the implication that a blog is being used to sell a product. I discussed "educational" blogs and compliance with a top FTC official who said something similar to this. 'Why is a company using blogs on their commercial website if not to sell products.' This is the lens the FTC and FDA look at when reviewing marketing statements. I often use this example when educating about how "informational" blogs can easily cross the line into claims. Here's a post from last year about this. I also suggest removing any high-risk "buzzwords" from the blog, including pictures and clinical study URLs. Here is a post and video about finding and placing these high-risk disease words . Product blogs: These are considered "extensions of a product label" and, therefore, must be ultra compliant. If a company wouldn't write "pain" on the label, this word should not be used in a product blog. The same rules about "buzzwords" apply here. Here is a video about reducing risks when using blogs . Here is a detailed post where I discuss blogs and much more! "Warning Letter Review: What Went Wrong & How to Avoid " Disclaimer: The educational information provided here is for informational purposes only. Contact an attorney for specific legal advice. Rule #1 in compliance is to ensure marketing is truthful and not misleading. Previous Next Get Warning Letter Wednesday in your Inbox Sign-Up Now!

Cognition and memory products are big business, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Advertising Division (NAD), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and plaintiff attorneys are paying attention. < Back Cognitive and memory warning letters and litigation trends: Best practices for reducing risk Asa Waldstein Guest Article Cognition and memory products are big business, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Advertising Division (NAD), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and plaintiff attorneys are paying attention. Cognition and memory products are big business, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Advertising Division (NAD), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and plaintiff attorneys are paying attention. This leads to warning letters, competitor challenges and lawsuits, but it can be confusing to know how to discuss ingredients and products without crossing the compliance line or becoming an easy lawsuit target. In this article, I’ll review enforcement trends and best practices to help keep you out of trouble while continuing to educate your consumers and grow your business. Read More Previous Next

Blogs can be considered marketing < Back When “Educational” Blogs Become “Labeling” Blogs can be considered marketing I love educating about enforcement trends and regulatory marketing compliance, and I've been writing this weekly post for almost three years. I have two small companies in the dietary supplement marketing compliance space. Supplement Advisory Group is my consulting company that focuses on dietary supplement labeling and online marketing compliance support. Apex Compliance ™ is my subscription software product that helps find and replace risky marketing phrases on websites, videos, and content before publishing. I've dedicated my life to understanding enforcement trends as a way to inform compliant marketing. Today's post sums up common compliance oversights I commonly see in both of my companies. There have been no dietary supplement warning letters this week and I am attending a conference in NYC, so today's post will be brief. I'm writing this from beautiful Bryant Park, my NYC "office." I often see companies with compliant labels and product pages but have blogs on their websites filled with disease claims. In this post, we'll help demystify when "educational" blogs become marketing. If a supplement company writes about practices such as meditation or exercise being useful for diseases like anxiety, this is generally low risk. If the company mentions the benefits of ingredients they don't sell, again, this is low risk. Now, if there are blogs that talk about ingredients in products they sell, this crosses the line from education to product marketing, even if there are no hyperlinks or cross-linking. Just mentioning ingredients and then suggesting that they can help with diseases is enough to attract a warning letter. Here is an example of what I call the "common blog writer trap." Let's say a company writes a blog such as "5 Tips For Beating The Winter Blues." Typically, it would discuss winter blues and references disease names such as "depression." The blog would then talk about health-giving activities like meditation, snowboarding, working out, and journaling. The company may even talk about how there are studies suggesting that vitamin D supplementation can help. If the company doesn't sell vitamin D, then this blog is likely to be considered educational. However, if vitamin D is in any of their products, this crosses the line for product marketing. The more explicit the statement is, the more likely it is to be cited in a warning letter. For example, "Recent studies show that vitamin D supplementation can help alleviate many of the symptoms associated with depression." When in doubt, resist the urge to overexplain ingredient benefits, as this can result in a warning letter. Disclaimer: The educational information provided here is for informational purposes only. Contact an attorney for specific legal advice. Rule #1 in compliance is to ensure marketing is truthful and not misleading. Previous Next Get Warning Letter Wednesday in your Inbox Sign-Up Now!

< Back Webinar Wednesday Oct 12, 2022 10 Herbal Product Marketing Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid with Asa Waldstein Herb Rally LIVE WEBINAR HOSTED ON ZOOM Asa Waldstein reviews common marketing pitfalls to avoid, such as social media engagement, hashtags, reposting, product reviews, citing studies, and blogs. He will provide practical information on implementing lower-risk marketing strategies without impacting sales. This is a town hall and presentation format so please bring your questions. This online event is LIVE and FREE. Register Previous Next