FDA Warns Tea Drink Makers About Unsubstantiated Claims

Ever heard of tea-flavored beverage makers making health claims for their teas which really should only be made for properly brewed tea? It seems the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, USA) has, and is warning both Dr. Pepper Snapple Group about its Canada Dry Sparkling Green Tea Ginger Ale and Unilever Americas over its website claims and labeling for Lipton Green Tea. It accuses them of making unsubstantiated claims, among other things.

In a letter to Unilever Americas, the FDA wrote:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed the label for your “Lipton Green Tea 100% Natural Naturally Decaffeinated” product and reviewed your labeling for this product on your websites, www.lipton.com and www.liptont.com in August 2010. Based on our review, we have concluded that this product is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act).

Health conscious consumers are being lured by food processors which add vitamins and other nutrients to their products – many of them nothing more than junk foods or drinks. In a letter to Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, the FDA writes:

(the FDA) does not consider it appropriate to fortify snack foods such as carbonated beverages.

Claiming that the Canada Dry tea is enhanced with 200 mg of antioxidants from green tea and vitamin C does not meet federal requirements, the FDA added. The carbonated drink’s ingredients are not nutrients with antioxidant activity, as far as the FDA is concerned.

The FDA’s letter to Unilever accuses its Lipton tea website of suggesting that the tea is designed to treat/prevent disease, because it mentions four studies that demonstrated how tea lowers cholesterol levels. Additionally, the antioxidant labeling claims do not comply with federal guidelines, the FDA states.

In its letter to Unilever Americas, the FDA writes:

For example, your webpage entitled “Tea and Health,” subtitled “Heart Health Research” and further subtitled “Cholesterol Research” bears the following claim: “Four recent studies in people at risk for coronary disease have shown a significant cholesterol lowering effect from tea or tea flavonoids … One of these studies, on post-menopausal women, found that total cholesterol was lowered by 8% after drinking 8 cups of green tea daily for 12 weeks ….

The therapeutic claims on your website establish that the product is a drug because it is intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease. Your Lipton Green Tea 100% Natural Naturally Decaffeinated product is not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced uses and, therefore, the product is a “new drug” under section 201(p) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 321(p)]. New drugs may not be legally marketed in the U.S. without prior approval from FDA as described in section 505(a) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 355(a)]. FDA approves a new drug on the basis of scientific data submitted by a drug sponsor to demonstrate that the drug is safe and effective.

The recipients of both letters are told they have 15 days to explain how they are going to address the issues.