Dannon to pay $21 million to settle complaints against its probiotics products
December 21st, 2010 - 8:54 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattParis, Dec 21 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Dannon S.A. has agreed to a $21 million settlement with state investigations.
Dannon was accused of exaggerating the health benefits of some of its dairy products. Federal and state investigators say Dannon falsely advertised the health benefits of Activia yoghurt and DanAcvtive dairy drink.
In its adverts, Dannon, which is a French company claimed that the two products helped to prevent colds and held cure digestive problems. The Federal Trade Commission warned companies to desist from exaggerating the health benefits of their products. The Commission said that at anytime, consumers are entitled to accurate information of the product that they are selling.
The Commission and state investigators initiated investigations into the claims by Dannon that its products contain “probiotics” that were beneficial to the health. The adverts were run on several networks and after series of complaints and raised eyebrows, the Federal Trade Commission commenced investigations into the claims.
This is not the first time that Dannon has made such a claim and been reprimanded for it. In September 2009, the company made a similar claim about its Activia and DanActive products and was forced to make 35 million available to reimburse customers that feel cheated.
The amount that Dannon has agreed to pay will be used to settle the cost that the inquiry incurred.
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Tags: activia, colds, consumers, dairy products, danactive, digestive problems, eyebrows, federal trade commission, french company, health benefits, paris, probiotics, state investigations, state investigators, yoghurt