The Department of Health yesterday announced the first results of its campaign to crack down on advertising that exaggerates the curative effects of cosmetics, food and medicine by using rewards to encourage the public to report such cases to the authorities.
The bureau said that between March and July, 1,015 such cases were reported. Half of them were later found to be in violation of the law and the advertisers were fined.
"Most of the exaggerated curative effects in the advertisements are related to issues which most people are concerned about," said Chang Hong-jen (張鴻仁), the department's deputy minister.
The department's Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs (藥政處) said most of the cases found to be illegal involved products that made false beauty claims.
For example, one food product claimed to be able to "increase a person's height between 0.5cm and 1.5cm per week." Another product promised to "increase the size of a woman's bust by an inch in five days."
The bureau said that another common type of fraud involves products that claim to be capable of boosting sexual vitality, stamina and power.
"These crooked ads and commercials cheat consumers. In addition, they could wrongly persuade patients to merely use the products in lieu of seeking medical attention," said Chang, emphasizing the importance of having the public involved in cracking down on such advertising.
Some advertisers who have been fined by the department claimed their products had miraculous effects such as being capable of curing diabetes.
The health department gave out a total of NT$150,000 in reward money to those whistleblowers who reported advertisments that after investigation were later found to indeed be in violation of the law.
The violators have paid over NT$12 million in penalties, Chang said, who added that the reward program has been well worthwhile.
"The authority's efficiency in regulating these ads and commercials has significantly improved with the public's participation in the inspection," said Hu Yoa-pu (
Hu said the poor screening of advertisements prior to their exposure to the public can be primarily attributed to a lack of human resources at local health bureaus, which are responsible for monitoring and inspecting such advertising.
According to the bureau, over 50 percent of the misleading ads appeared in newspapers and magazines, while another 27.4 and 15.5 percent, were found on TV and the Internet, respectively. Others were aired on the radio.
The department said that it will continue to offer a reward to those who report fraudulent advertisments until next February.
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