By Katherine Hobson
Is POM a cautionary tale for Nestlé?
The Swiss food maker says it’s putting about $500 million towards research into functional foods and drinks over the next decade, creating two new units to “develop products that may prevent and treat chronic ailments such as diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s disease,” the WSJ reports.
That announcement, however, came the same day the FTC sued the makers of POM Wonderful (as in pomegranate) juice, saying the juice and branded supplements make “false and unsubstantiated claims” for the prevention and treatment of diseases such as prostate cancer. Both the FTC and FDA are stepping up efforts to crack down on marketing claims made by makers of functional foods and nutraceuticals.
(POM filed its own suit against the FTC earlier this month, saying that the agency’s new rules — which requiring companies involved in food ad settlements to get the FDA’s okay before making further health claims — violate free speech rights.)
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http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/09/27/nestle-plans-push-into-functional-foods-but-ftc-and-fda-are-cracking-down/