WHITHER THE FTC ON FOOD ADVERTISING

After a period of relative inactivity during the Reagan years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has resumed a leading role in advertising regulation and enforcement, particularly with respect to health claims by food advertisers. However, during the hiatus, a number of state attorneys general rushed in to fill what was perceived as a regulatory vacuum. Also the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun to take a more active role regulating the use of health messages in food labeling. While FTC officials have stressed the close cooperation between their agency and the FDA, and efforts have been made to coordinate the FTC's activities with those of the states, it is apparent that the Commission, the FDA, and the state attorneys general have staked out radically different, if not contradictory, positions on food health claims. This article explores these conflicts and contradictions which involve a number of key issues and concepts: the level of substantiation required for food health claims, the area of permissible claims, the level of proof required to prohibit allegedly deceptive health claims, and first amendment concerns over stifling truthful and nondeceptive diet-health information.