Hygiene Product Company Sues FTC Over Health Claim Requirements

The Federal Trade Commission’s requirement that health-related claims must be backed up by rigorous and reliable scientific evidence such as randomized controlled clinical trials isn’t authorized by the FTC Act, a hygiene product company argued in a new lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The statute “does not make, and has never made, any kind of marketing claim actionable merely because it is, in the FTC’s opinion, ‘unsubstantiated,’” Xlear Inc. said in its complaint filed in the US District Court for the District of Utah.

Xlear makes xylitol-based hygiene products including nasal sprays and mouth washes. The company said that the FTC’s substantiation ...