The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this week released new compliance guidelines for food advertising, warning businesses and influencers that using images, metaphors or testimonials to imply medical benefits could breach regulations and result in fines of up to NT$5 million (US$158,388).
Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s planning and technology management division, yesterday told reporters that the FDA wished to address the issue at the source rather than continue issuing fines, as food adverts constitute the majority of regulatory violations.
The guide, unveiled on Tuesday, clarified the FDA’s principles on what constitutes illegal advertising, along with examples and the exact procedures it would use to determine whether cases meet the criteria.
Photo: CNA
The FDA said that the guide should help food industry owners and businesses inspect adverts placed with advertising companies.
Promotion of a product through the media or other means, whether by hiring influencers or having others talk about their experiences, that would result in the product owner benefiting financially would be classified as an advert, Cheng said.
The content should not be exaggerated, easily misunderstood, or claim to have medical or healing effects, Cheng said.
The FDA would consider the advert in its entirety and judge whether its intent violates regulations, Cheng added.
Reviewers would not be scanning for the inclusion, or omission, of certain key words, Cheng said, citing common terms such as the three “hypers,” referring to hypertension, hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia, or blood viscosity and fiery liver as examples.
While these terms do not state the symptom names outright, if paired with imagery such as blood vessels being cleared, they would imply that the product would help achieve such effects, Cheng said.
As such, use of homonyms, metaphors, implied interpretation of certain words or intentionally using wrong terminology to convey certain linguistic effects would all fall under the category of intentionally alluding to products having medicinal properties and could be deemed in violation, Cheng said.
Food adverts that are deemed by the FDA or other health-related bodies to have violated Paragraph 1, Article 28 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) could be fined NT$40,000 to NT$4 million, the FDA said.
Violations of Paragraph 2, Article 28 could be fined between NT$600,000 and NT$5 million, which could be imposed consecutively, and could result in the vendor or producer being ordered to temporarily suspend operations, forcibly closed down, or have their license revoked.
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