CBD Company Cited For Claims Made in Blogs and Socials
Blogs on a commercial website are marketing claims
This CBD #WarningLetterWednesday is a great teaching case as it cites many of the common mistakes we talk about each week.
Here is what we can learn:
Blogs on a commercial website are marketing claims.
CBD is not allowed in OTC topicals.
Hashtags, ingredient benefits, and product tags appear in more warning letters.
Most of the cited claims in this warning letter are from blogs and social media. Here's one of several examples.
From Warning Letter: "On the Blog post, "How to Use CBD to Combat Holiday Stress":.. "Reduced Anxiety and Depression"
Blogs on a commercial website are "fair game" for enforcement and a key lesson from this WL. I write about best practices for blogs here. http://ow.ly/KMo250IYL43
High-risk words never belong on a commercial website, especially the "anxiety and depression" one-two punch. Here's my video about this. http://ow.ly/tuI350IYL48
From Warning Letter: "Although CBD is listed as an inactive ingredient in the labels of your .... "1000 mg Pain Relief Cream" products, the product labeling clearly represents CBD as an active ingredient"
This product is labeled with drug facts and lists CBD as an inactive ingredient, but the label boldly lists "1000mg CBD".
From Warning Letter: … "Even if CBD could be considered an inactive ingredient in your .... "1000 mg Pain Relief Cream" products, these products would still need an approved drug application to be legally marketed"
The FDA's position is that CBD is not a suitable active or inactive ingredient in OTC topical drugs. Please read my article about this. http://ow.ly/N8rq50IYL3X
From Warning Letter: "On your January 6, 2021 Instagram…"# CBDforArthritis # Anxiety”
Hashtags are an enforcement trend to watch. Here's a video about this.
From Warning Letter: “product_tag-dog-cancer-cbd”
Product tags are mentioned in this warning letter. I wrote about this last week.
From Warning Letter: "Orange Essential Oil [an ingredient in CBD Super Cider] may naturally relieve anxiety, . . . depression and inflammation of the body."
Discussing ingredient benefits on a commercial website is a high risk.
There's much more to talk about in this letter that I do not have room for.
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.