Seyfarth Synopsis: Companies that make "all natural" claims for their products may come under FTC scrutiny and enforcement.
The Federal Trade Commission announced five cases this week with companies that market their products as "all natural" or "100% natural," alleging deceptive use of those phrases in ads for skincare products, shampoos, styling products, and sunscreens.
We had blogged previously about FTC's "green claims" enforcement. See Be Careful About What you Claim – Or Fail to Claim, and FTC Sends Green Guides Warning Letters and FTC Aggressively Enforcing Improper "Green" Claims.
According to the FTC, in these five cases the companies pitched their products as all natural or 100% natural, "but included synthetic ingredients."
The FTC proposed orders will prohibit "misrepresentations" that a product is all-natural or 100% natural. In addition, the companies may not misstate the extent to which any product contains natural or synthetic components, or make misleading claims about ingredients or composition, or make deceptive representations about environmental or health benefits. The FTC will require that for "some claims the companies will need scientific evidence."
The FTC warns that "if you advertise your product as 'all-natural' or '100% natural' and it contains artificial ingredients or chemicals, now is the natural time for a compliance check."
The Agency is allowing public comment on the four proposed settlements by May 12, 2016.
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