Tea Product Cited for Blood Sugar, Cholesterol & Cancer Claims

This is a story of a small tea company that was cited for making risky disease claims on its website. The company probably didn’t realize they were breaking the rules, demonstrating a considerable opportunity for education in the herbal products market. This is one of the reasons I started Warning Letter Wednesday, to help educate companies on enforcement trends and marketing compliance.

This is a reminder that even very small companies are “on FDA’s radar” if they market products online. I write about this here.

There are many risky claims in this warning letter. These include blood pressure and cholesterol, which I wrote about last week.

There are also claims about insomnia. There have been 20 insomnia-related warning letters this year, and this continues to be an FDA enforcement priority.

There is even a cancer claim which is a justifiable automatic warning letter. From this FDA warning letter. “Keeps blood pressure under check.”- “Lowers cholesterol.”- “Controls blood sugar level.”- “Lowers the risk of cancer.”

The company removed the items cited in the warning letter from its website. However, very risky posts mentioning claims such as “fights bacteria and viruses” are still on its social media. This again shows that company needs compliance support to understand what constitutes a claim. Here is a “What is a Claim” video.

Read the full 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.