[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 15, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2161-2162]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-922]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 962-3069]
Abbott Laboratories; Analysis to Aid Public Comment
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.
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SUMMARY: In settlement of alleged violations of Federal law prohibiting
unfair or deceptive acts or practices and unfair methods of
competition, this consent agreement, accepted subject to final
Commission approval, would prohibit, among other things, the Abbott
Park, Illinois-based marketer of nutritional beverages from making any
claim about the extent to which doctors or other professionals
recommend any food or dietary or nutritional supplement, or about any
other recommendation, approval, or endorsement of such products, unless
it possesses competent and reliable scientific evidence to substantiate
the claim. The agreement settles allegations that Abbott made false and
unsubstantiated claims in an extensive national advertising campaign
that promotes the company's Ensure nutritional beverages for healthy,
active adults.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 17, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be directed to: FTC/Office of the Secretary,
Room 159, 6th St. and Pa. Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michelle K. Rusk, Federal Trade Commission, S-466, 6th and Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580. (202) 326-3148. Joel Winston, Federal
Trade Commission, S-4002, 6th and Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington,
DC 20580. (202) 326-3153.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, 38 Stat. 721, 15 U.S.C. 46, and Section 2.34 of
the Commission's Rules of Practice (16 CFR 2.34) notice is hereby given
that the above-captioned consent agreement containing a consent order
to cease and desist, having been filed with and accepted, subject to
final approval, by the Commission, has been placed on the public record
for a period of sixty (60) days. The following Analysis to Aid Public
Comment describes the terms of the consent agreement, and the
allegations in the accompanying complaint. An electronic copy of the
full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained from the
Commission Actions section of the FTC Home Page (for January 2, 1997),
on the World Wide Web, at ``http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions/htm.'' A
paper copy can be obtained from the FTC Public Reference Room, Room H-
130, Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580,
either in person or by calling (202) 326-3627. Public comment is
invited. Such comments or views will be considered by the Commission
and will be available for inspection and copying at its principal
office in accordance with Section 4.9(b)(6)(ii) of the Commission's
Rules of Practice (16 FR 4.9(b)(6)(ii)).
Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment
The Federal Trade Commission has accepted an agreement to a
proposed consent order from Abbott Laboratories. This matter concerns
advertising for Ensure nutritional products.
The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for
sixty (60) days for reception of comments by interested persons.
Comments received during this period will become part of the public
record. After sixty days, the Commission will again review the
agreement and the comments received and will decide whether it should
withdraw from the agreement or make final the agreement's proposed
order.
Ensure is a canned beverage which contains carbohydrates, protein,
fat, vitamins and minerals and is formulated so that the very elderly
and others who have difficulty obtaining sufficient nutrition from
regular food can subsist on it, for example through tube feeding. The
Ensure product line includes not only Ensure, but also Ensure High
Protein, Ensure Plus, Ensure With Fiber, Ensure Pudding, and Ensure
Light.
According to the Commission's complaint, Abbott advertisements made
the unsubstantiated representation that many doctors recommend Ensure
as a meal supplement and replacement for healthy adults, including
those in their thirties and forties. The complaint explains that, among
other reasons, this claim is unsubstantiated because a survey of
doctors relied upon by Abbott was not designed to elicit whether many
doctors actually recommend Ensure as a meal supplement or replacement
for healthy adults--as opposed to adults who are ill or elderly and may
have nutritional deficiencies. According to the complaint, the survey
merely asked doctors to assume that they would recommend a supplement
for adults who were not ill, and then to select the brand they would
most recommend.
The complaint also alleges that Abbott misrepresented that one
serving of Ensure provides vitamins in an amount comparable to typical
multivitamin supplements. According to the complaint, while the typical
multivitamin supplement provides at least 100% of the recommended daily
intake (RDI) of vitamins, at the time the advertisements challenged in
the complaint were first disseminated, one serving of Ensure provided
62% of the RDI of Vitamin C and between 12% and 26% of the RDIs of the
other vitamins for which RDIs have been established. The complaint
states that, although Ensure has been reformulated, one serving still
provides only 50% of the RDI of Vitamin C and 25% of the RDIs of the
other vitamins.
The proposed consent order contains provisions designed to remedy
the violations charged and to prevent Abbott from engaging in similar
acts and practices in the future.
Part I of the order requires Abbott not to make any claim about the
extent to which doctors or other professionals recommend any food or
dietary or nutritional supplement for healthy adults, or about the
recommendation, approval, or endorsement of such products by anyone,
unless it possesses
[[Page 2162]]
competent and reliable evidence, which when appropriate must be
competent and reliable scientific evidence, that substantiates the
claim.
Part II prohibits Abott from misrepresenting that one serving of
any Ensure product, or any other product advertised, marketed or sold
as a meal replacement or supplement for healthy adults, provides
vitamins in an amount comparable to typical vitamin supplements. It
also prohibits Abbott from misrepresenting the absolute or comparative
amount of any vitamin or any other nutrient or ingredient provided by
such products. Part II also requires that any representation covered by
that Part that conveys a nutrient content claim defined for labeling by
any regulation of the Food and Drug Administration (``FDA'') must
comply with the qualifying amount set forth in that regulation.
Part III provides that representations that would be specifically
permitted in food labeling, under regulations issued by the FDA
pursuant to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, are not
prohibited by the order.
The proposed order also requires Abbott to maintain materials
relied upon to substantiate the claims covered by the order, to
distribute copies of the order to certain current and future officers
and employees, to notify the Commission of any changes in corporate
structure that might affect compliance with the order, and to file one
or more reports detailing compliance with the order. The order also
contains a provision stating that it will terminate after twenty (20)
years absent the filing in federal court, by either the United States
or the FTC, of a complaint against Abbott alleging a violation of the
order.
The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the
proposed order, and it is not intended to constitute an official
interpretation of the agreement and proposed order, or to modify any of
their terms.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary,
[FR Doc. 97-922 Filed 1-14-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M