The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned five advertisements for health supplements that made unsubstantiated claims about treating symptoms of menopause, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and other women's hormonal conditions.
Products from 222 Balance Me, Lunera, Minerva, and Nova Menopause Vitality were prohibited for claiming to prevent, treat, or cure menopause symptoms. Separately, PolyBiotics' ad and website suggested its supplements could prevent, cure, or treat PCOS.
The ASA said it pays close attention to adverts that could exploit people's health worries, emotional concerns, or financial pressures. The rulings followed an AI-powered sweep of health claims in online ads, which revealed emerging and ongoing issues around misleading claims.
The ASA stated that “many” of the claims were “unacceptable” and had broken a number of rules, risking misleading vulnerable people or steering them away from appropriate medical advice. 222 Collective acknowledged that wording in its ads may have “inadvertently implied that the product could treat or relieve symptoms such as PMS, menopause-related symptoms, anxiety, bloating, heavy bleeding, or mood disorders”.
Lunera accepted that its claims would be understood by consumers to attribute a medicinal property to a food supplement. PolyBiotics accepted that references to PCOS, ovulation, fertility, cycle regulation, insulin resistance and related symptoms constituted disease treatment or symptom-management claims, which are not permitted for food supplements.
ASA investigations manager Catherine Drewett said: “When it comes to women’s health, people deserve clear and accurate information. Ads making misleading claims about treating symptoms of the menopause, PCOS and other hormonal conditions can cause real harm and today’s rulings hold advertisers to account.”
