The Food and Drug Administration last year imposed fines totaling more than NT$210 million (US$7.36 million) on 5,742 cases of false advertising involving food and cosmetic products, it said yesterday.
The advertisements included exaggerated or therapeutic claims, FDA Food Safety Division official Hsu Hsu Chao-kai (許朝凱) said.
The most common claims were that the products aided “skin care,” and “weight loss and slimming,” that they “enhanced immunity,” “cured eye disease” and “improved bone and muscle functions,” he said.
Photo: CNA
Hsu gave an example for each of the five common types of food and cosmetic products that used false advertising.
An advertisement for Japan’s Kurokami Kyokugen Hair Revitalizing Essence Ex-Plus (日本全新黑髮極限毛髮賦活精華Ex-Plus), which claimed to revitalize hair follicle cells by 760 percent, capillaries by 810 percent and grow back hair by 390 percent, has been fined 58 times, he said.
An advertisement for Japan’s Morishita Jintan 5X Bifina and Fiber Plus Beauty (日本仁丹 5X 特效晶球益纖菌) capsules have been fined 60 times for claiming to help people slim down and lose 1kg per day, he added.
An advertisement for PBF New Zealand Boysenberry (PBF紐西蘭波森莓) concentrated berry juice sachets, which claimed it can repair lung cells, prevent and cure lung inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis, as well as repair damaged tissues, was fined 39 times, Hsu said.
An ad for Ai-Shi-Shin (愛適新) billberry and calendula extract capsules, which claimed to increase eye stem cell proliferation by 800 percent and repair the eyes by 100 percent, was fined 39 times, he said.
An advertisement for Walk Like Flying Ostrich Extract (走若飛駝鳥精) herbal extract was fined 32 times for claiming to rapidly repair the bones, muscles and improve the lubrication of articular cartilage, he added.
Hsu said the false ads often claimed that the ingredients can change the users’ physiological mechanisms, used intimidating terms or displayed misleading before-and-after photographs to exaggerate the product’s effects.
Ads for food products can only provide nutritional value and calories, while those for cosmetic products can only claim to “polish the appearance,” but cannot claim to have therapeutic effect, he said.
Companies that use exaggerated advertising for food products can be fined NT$40,000 to NT$4 million, and NT$40,000 to NT$200,000 for cosmetic products, Hsu said.
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