A RULING has been published against a Coventry business on the advertisement of unauthorised health claims for food supplements being sold online.
Last November, Dochsa Ltd registered with Coventry city council’s food and safety team as a food business.
The team found several health claims being made on the company’s website, such as buying specific bundles of supplements as ways to reduce certain symptoms associated with conditions such as ADHD.
The food and safety team advised the business that these claims could not be made.
The matter was referred to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for review to determine whether advertising rules had been broken.
The food business operator of Dochsa agreed to amend their website to remove the claims and decided to stop selling food supplements shortly after.
The ASA continued to review the original material and has now issued a ruling upholding the Council’s original findings.
It ruled that Dochsa must not state or imply that their food supplements could prevent, treat or cure human disease.
It also said that Dochsa must ensure that any specific health claims made are authorised on the GB NHC Register and comply with the conditions of use for those claims.
Dochsa Ltd said they were a micro-organisation that resold food supplements from a manufacturer, so they did not hold any stock.
The firm added the manufacturer created the brand labels for them to use, and that they used their descriptions and certifications when listing them on their website.
It added they had been in contact with the city council regarding the website and had followed their directions as best as they could, including updating and changing product descriptions on their website.
However, they said they had removed all food supplements from their website and would not be selling any in future after being notified of the complaint.
Davina Blackburn, Strategic Lead for Regulation in the city, said: “We hope this ruling will send a message to other food businesses in Coventry that you need to ensure any health claims made about food or supplements are authorised and not misleading to customers.”
Visit https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/dochsa-ltd-a22-1177091-dochsa-ltd.html for the full ruling.
