EU agency rejects 180 probiotic health claims

[charlie]

That's every claim submitted that vendors wanted to use to describe their products. These guys had better bring the goods soon or yogurt will go back to being yogurt. "Tastes good and is good for you" isn't likely to sustain the probiotic bonanza.

Of 180 claims for probiotic ingredients, the EU's food agency the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) threw out every one. Ten were rejected outright and a 21-member expert panel could not assess the remaining 170 because the ingredients for which the claims were made could not be identified.
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The findings on ingredients such as lactobacillus and bifidobacterium are an embarrassment to the UK's £220m-a-year "dairy shots" industry, which has relied on heavy advertising to persuade shoppers of its products.
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Efsa is reviewing all health claims made for food products following the introduction of a new EU law, the 2006 Regulation on Health and Nutrition Claims, which stipulated for the first time that all medical-sounding marketing boasts must be verified. Brands whose claims are not approved will have to stop making the claims.
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"For too long the fact that people are getting more interested in health has been seen as a marketing opportunity, and companies have been putting claims on their products. And now that we are getting systematic research we have been able to say some of these claims cannot be supported."

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/health-claim-of-probiotics-not-accepted-1796375.html

[Warpy]

1. The claims were nothing short of hilarious

While eating yogurt with live cultures can cut the nasty GI side effects of taking antibiotics, there has never been any evidence at all of its miraculous healing properties in otherwise healthy people.

The FDA, however, will still allow the holy corporations to spread false claims in the US.

[charlie]

3. "Improves weight gain by 10%"

"...proven in more than 40 scientifically designed and controlled trials... maintaining the integrity of the gastro-intestinal flora effects increased weight gain..."

That's how it's marketted to pig farmers. Same stuff, with a pitch that'd make it less popular than cod liver oil :)

Undeterred, the company and its ad agency set out to find a solution. Consumer research showed that if they could claim in TV advertising that Actimel's Lactobacillus casei Imunitass worked to "balance the body's intestinal flora thereby strengthening the body's natural defences" they could get people trying it. Unfortunately the ad industry's self-regulating body wasn't impressed. "The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre did not accept Danone's scientific evidence supporting its natural defences claim," the submission admits. It goes on: "So the question became how could we build penetration, and justify a relative price premium, among sceptics without telling them what the product does or illustrating the biological function?"
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Yet more research showed how they could lead consumers down a certain thought process to get them to buy. They worked out that "immune system" was the catch-all phrase to sum up the body's natural defences to disease. So the logic was as follows: Actimel contains friendly live bacteria called L.c. Imunitass (note the cod Latin) therefore L.c. Imunitass is involved with the immune system; a strong immune system means feeling healthy. The feeling healthy "hot button", as the submission puts it, was pressed when represented as freedom from fatigue and resistance to catching coughs and colds … in short, feeling good.

Over the next two to three years Danone spent nearly £22m advertising Actimel in the UK. The ads used subliminal clues such as bad weather and people with coughs and colds to infer its "strengthen natural defences" and "helps your immune system" messages and showed supercharged women running around after drinking Actimel for two weeks to imply that it gave you energy. Sales rose 426%.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/jul/25/probiotic-health-benefits

Dannon just settled a class action lawsuit over misleading claims:

The settlement places detailed parameters around the manner in which Dannon can market its products, leading to Dannon’s commitment to remove the word “immunity” from the front-of-pack marketing of probiotic drink, DanActive.
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The probiotic strains would have to be highlighted in their original latin names as well as commercial title they possess such as L. casei Immunitas in DanActive and Bifidus Regularis in Activia.
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Dannon has agreed to amend on-product wording for DanActive from, “a positive effect on your digestive tract’s immune system” to “interact with your digestive tract’s immune system”.
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Both Activia DanActive products must contain the phrase: “Activia (or, e.g., Activia Light) is a food product and not a treatment or cure for any medical disorder or disease. If you have any concerns about your digestive system, you should consult a healthcare professional.”

For Activia, Dannon can state that Activia is “scientifically proven” or “clinically proven” to help regulate the digestive system but a disclaimer must accompany it stating it can help with slow intestinal transit when eaten daily for two weeks, as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle.

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/On-your-radar/Probiotics/Analysis-The-details-of-Dannon-s-probiotic-settlement

[MineralMan]

2. It's obviously a conspiracy by big Pharma!

Obviously...:sarcasm: