The new FDA has indicated that playing fast and loose with health claims won't be tolerated, and industry seems to have gotten the message. Bayer says it will discontinue labeling and advertising language that links selenium in its One A Day Men's multivitamins to a reduced risk of prostate cancer -- without any direct FDA intervention.
While a Bayer spokeswoman calls the move "a result of our evaluation of the evolving science," the company notes it has seen FDA's June 19 decision to label selenium's preventive effect on prostate cancer "highly unlikely" (as Over The Counter Today blogged here).
"Even though the FDA has not made an official communication about the use of the previously approved qualified health claim, 'Selenium may reduce the risk of certain cancers,' we have decided to no longer utilize this language in our promotion and labeling of our products," the spokeswoman writes in a June 25 e-mail.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, which threatened to sue Bayer over the selenium claims, says it intends to wait for a detailed response from the company before deciding whether to commence legal action. A spokesman adds the center still would like to see the Federal Trade Commission issue a fine and require Bayer to spend millions on a corrective advertising campaign, even after it makes its revisions.
- Dan Schiff (d.schiff@elsevier.com)
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