Compliance with Regulations
I’ve been off-air for a few weeks after a trip away …….. but that’s another story.
My topic of discussion today is compliance with the regulations that control the claims sellers are permitted to say about their products. As often happens, what appears a simple topic on the surface becomes more complex upon further thought, consideration and investigation.
Alternative health care remedies have been around since time immemorial. Witch doctors, medicine men, faith healers, the travelling salesman hawking his wares from a horse and cart, to the Rawleighs man going door to door. We are able to choose between holistic health care solutions and alternative medicines too numerous to mention, and trying to decide what is the best treatment for an illness or the best product to maintain us in optimum health can be so confusing it makes our brain fry and our eyes water! Who do we believe, with so many claims around?
Health authorities in most countries have evolved towards legislating against companies making outrageous or exaggerated claims about their products and they have done this in order to protect consumers against “quack” products - most especially vulnerable people who are desperate for cures for terminal illnesses. This is an understandable reaction from the health authorities, but as often happens, we don’t always get the balance right when it comes to passing laws.
The reason so many people world-wide are seeking natural health products to maintain their health or cure their illnesses is that traditional medicine often has such bad side effects. Drug companies and doctors are aware of the side effects of traditional medicines, and are (usually) quite open in discussing them with their patients. Doctors weigh up the effects on the body of the illness against the side effects of the cure, and usually decide the side effects of the cure are not as bad as the illness, but either way, the patient is usually in for a rough ride and often their health is destroyed permanently. Who wouldn’t be looking for an alternative in this situation?
Life Health recently received a letter from the health authorities in New Zealand informing us that our website does not comply with regulations and must be changed. We are not permitted to claim that our Noni juice does any of the following:
- treats or prevents disease, including colds, influenza & parasites
- assists with general ailments such as pain and inflammation
- alters the structure, size or weight of the human body
- relieves, prevents, treats a disease or symptoms of a disease
- increases, improves or enhances a physiological condition or function
Nor are we permitted to:
- reference a method of treatment (eg apply to affected area)
- mention that the product has been traditionally used for a therapeutic purpose
- provide information articles about disease prevention or other therapeutic purposes
- use testimonials or personal statements that refer to the product having a therapeutic purpose
- provide links to informational websites
- quote research or clinical trials
- claim that the product will assist in weight loss
- claim that the product is an alternative to a medicine or group of medicines
And so it goes on. I have an aversion to conspiracy theories, but I can’t help wondering how much the major drug companies were consulted in formulating this piece of legislation. What is left for alternative health product suppliers to say about their products?
Our analysis of website visitors shows that when people are seeking out health products, they do a huge amount of research before they commit to a purchase. Prospective consumers of health products are obviously far more savvy than authorities give them credit for. Most people research the claims a product makes, look at the benefits of taking that product, asks questions of the seller all before making a purchase. How can websites provide such information to prospective customers if they are so hobbled by the scope of the legislation that they can not provide the information customers are seeking? How can people make informed decisions?
Noni juice is a product that has had bad press over the years. Multi level marketing as a method of marketing and selling can have some benefits if it is set up right, but more often than not, the sellers are into MLM for all the wrong reasons. They want to make a quick buck, they hound their family, colleagues and friends to buy their latest ‘project’ and they certainly don’t care or are not passionate about the product they are selling. Consequently, exaggerated claims are made about the products benefits, which give not only MLM, but the product itself a bad name. The biggest Noni company worldwide sells via MLM, with all the associated bad press, and this image tarnishes all Noni sellers.
While we recognise that regulations are necessary to protect consumers, we don’t accept that our customers need to be protected to the extent that they are unable to research any of the benefits that a product like Noni can give. We believe passionately in the health benefits Noni juice provides for a myriad of ailments and for the way taking Noni regularly maintains healthy people in optimum good health to prevent disease, and if we could, we would like to spread this message to the world. We believe most people possess the good sense and intelligence to decipher good products from bad, and so to stop the flow of information to people who want to research a product before committing to purchase it is a step in the wrong direction.
We will continue to provide as much information as we can about the health benefits associated with the regular consumption of Noni juice, and we will endeavour to do this whilst staying within the legal boundaries.
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After reading your article in regard to alternative medicine and the new regulations in New Zealand…It doesn’t surprise me at all…Today we live in a world where ignorance on one side, personal interest, big corporations gains are far more important than the well being of humanity.
Edgar