Ads overstated yogurt's effect on digestive health (Activia)

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http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/09/dannon_suit.html


Dannon Settles Activia Yogurt Suit


Dannon has settled a massive consumer class action alleging that ads for certain brands of its yogurt overstate their claimed health benefits. The settlement will shell out $35 million to affected consumers.

The suit alleged that ads of both Activia and DanActive yogurt exaggerated their beneficial effects on human health. The ads promote the yogurt as improving digestion and have become well known for their goofiness; a recent Activia iteration features actress Jamie Lee Curtis, seated on a couch, noting that “our busy lives sometimes force us to eat the wrong things at the wrong times,” and promoting Activia as the solution to “digestive issues.”

-snip-

The ads credit Bifidus Regularis, a Dannon-created name for bacteria found in mammals' large intestines, with Activia's positive effects on digestion.

'Bifudis Regularis'
According to the official Activia website, Dannon “selected Bifidus Regularis for Activia because it survives passage through the digestive tract, arriving in the colon as a living culture,” where “it plays a beneficial role in your intestinal ecosystem.” Whether this appetizing section of the Activia campaign will stay or go remains to be seen.

Dannon, a subsidiary of the French company Groupe Danone whose U.S. headquarters is in White Plains, N.Y., agreed to create a fund to reimburse qualified consumers, up to $100 each.

-snip-

The agreement is a significant victory for Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, the San Diego-based class action firm that once won a $7 billion lawsuit against Enron. The $35 million Activia settlement is the largest-ever for a suit alleging false advertising of a food product.

The firm is apparently confident in its legal strategy; it's now pushing forward with a similar suit targeting General Mills' Yoplait Yo-Plus yogurt. That item is similarly advertised as promoting good health by regulating digestive pathways. In its complaint against General Mills, Coughlin Stoia says that the company falsely claims to have “clinical proof” to back up its claims. That suit is being heard in Florida.
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every way you turn there is a scam

[Gwendolyn]

1. Every time I saw those lame Activia ads, I wondered when someone would get around to it.

Fully deserved lawsuit! Those claims were ridiculous.

Loved the money back guarantee though. As if someone's going to bring back a half-eaten carton of yogurt and complain to the store manager that their bowels are still blocked. :D

[miyazaki]

2. suing them because the yogurt is too sweet? because

thats all i can find that is wrong with this yogurt.

[Gwendolyn]

4. No, the over-statement on how it aids digestive health.

There's nothing wrong with the yogurt itself.

[MineralMan]

3. Poor Jamie Lee Curtis...Pobrecita!

There's no such thing as bifidus regularis. It's just a trade name for a common bacterium found in the colons of animals.

Guaranteed to work in two weeks! Well, if you don't crap for two weeks, you need more than yogurt, it seems to me.

Freaking false advertising!

[tridim]

5. That said, probiotics do work.

I submit my gut as proof. They just don't cure any specific disease.

Just wondering when the Extenze/Enzyte ads will be pulled?

[goclark]

9. It seems to work for me, my Dr. prescribed it

I was having problems with my stomach and after he ruled out others things, he "prescribed" Activia.

I went to the drug store to ask for it and they laughed and told me it's at the grocery store.

Sorry about their false advertising but FOR SURE they are not the real problem, 24/7 we are listening to Phara ADS that whisper what could be side effects.

If they have so many damn side effects maybe we need to learn about them from the DR. instead of CNN.

They should be sued for all their ADS ~

I am allergic to so many medicines and it is hard sometimes for people to believe me because the television tells them " it's great for you."

[Javaman]

6. People who equate dannon with yogurt, haven't eaten yogurt.

dannon is just sugary bullshit.

[TexasObserver]

7. They do provide needed materials.

Yeah, they exaggerated, but they really do help bowel function.

I know a couple of seniors who swear by Dan Active, both with diverticulosis.

[unblock]

12. not sure why they would swear by it if all they have is diverticulosis

now if they've had diverticulitis, that's another story.

diverticulosis is just having pouches in the colon, which is asymptomatic (they only found mine in a routine colonoscopy).
diverticulitis is those pouches getting inflamed, which is quite painful.

they recommend high-fiber to keep pouches from forming. i hadn't heard anything about "good" intestinal bacteria affecting things, though i would think it would have to play a role in helping to prevent diverticulitis.

[TexasObserver]

14. diverticulitis

I get the two confused.

They've had the bouts, and a nurse recommended the Dan Active. This relative swears by it, and she was in the hospital ten days last year from the problem. I think it has to do with maintaining proper bowel chemistry, so as to minimize the risk of the flare ups caused by those pouches.

[Union Yes]

8. If folks would just eat a high fiber diet, there'd hardly be any digestive problems at all.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. +1

the only time we used to have yogurt prescribed as it were, was when we took antibiotics... our pediatrician, back in the day, used to tell my mom that it was a good idea too keep a flora going.

After all the antibiotics will kill not just the bad guys.

:-)

To this day if I have to have antibiotics, I have yogurt... but still, there are days I wonder. Yogurt is nowhere close to the way it was at one time, if you get me drift.

[DainBramaged]

16. Yup. I have been setting world records since I increased my fiber.....

[Union Yes]

24. ROFL! Is that the inside of your toilet bowl afterward?

:rofl: :hi:

Thanks for posting that, I needed a good belly laugh!

[DainBramaged]

32. LOG LOG LOG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0xsqV3zk1Y

[bullwinkle428]

20. Unfortunately, there is not enough emphasis on the distinction between

soluble and insoluble fiber. I have suffered with IBS for years, and never really saw an improvement in my condition until I cut way back, almost the point of elimination, on my insoluble fiber intake.

[Johonny]

29. unless you got well the opposite digestive problem...

[TwilightGardener]

11. Well, THAT was a worthwhile class action suit. Millions for the lawyers, and

the rest of us get few bucks back for sluggish bowels.

[Romulox]

19. The Plaintiffs probably get coupons....for more yogurt! nt

[TwilightGardener]

21. Maybe it'll work this time!

:hurts:

[JitterbugPerfume]

13. never trust food

that makes health claims , especially overly processed food

[DainBramaged]

17. I started to laugh my ass off when I read never trust food...

It should be never trust corporations that MAKE food......

Hope you are well....

:hug:

[JitterbugPerfume]

25. oh my!

I gotta be more careful:hi:
I am well--Just swamped with canning tomatoes, trying to arrange a "sisters day" with three sisters scattered all over the map ,and three cats .

[intheflow]

33. Yep, it's the overly processed food in our diets that is most

messing with American digestive systems.

[DainBramaged]

15. That shit gave me gas, yuk, I was farting for a week afterwards

I gave it to my dogs (back then) and they turned their noses up at it...

[sentelle]

18. you mean its not just yogurt?

Personally, I always thought it was hokum.
I mean, I eat a high fiber diet, and because of it, i will sometimes, well, become more fragrant. a cup of yogurt a day fixes that.

All yogurts that have active bacteria in it (i.e. were not pasteurized after it became yogurt) can be made into ..... more yogurt. Get a brand you like, and add warm milk, and much like bread, put it in a warm place for 12-24 hours.

I find a good hearty yogurt, and will make 3-4 gallons of it before it becomes too weak to do much, then I buy a little more.... but its always plain yogurt....

I always wondered why its always women in the Activia Commercials..... Does it only work on women? Its not like guys don't fart...... Isn't that what we are talking about? Farting? This is like the biggest problem in the world right? Farting?

[elleng]

22. No, we're not talking about farting.

We're talking about constipation.

(There, I said it!)

[DainBramaged]

23. No farting?????

[sentelle]

26. Funny.

Yogurt never made me regular..... I left that job to Lentils, Oats whole wheat and Brown Jasmine rice.
The Yogurt is to keep the smell down :P

[Missy Vixen]

27. I've eaten both Yoplait Yo-Plus and Activia

I prefer the Yoplait, and yeah, it works for me. I eat fiber. Let's just say I have a somewhat touchy stomach, and the yogurt seems to settle it.

I truly disliked Activia. It doesn't taste good and I saw no benefit whatsoever.

Of course, I'm sure we'll hear from the "tort reform" people any second now...

[otohara]

28. Lactose Intolerant Folks

can't do Yogurt even if it's loaded with Acidopholis/Bifidus.

Every time i watched that commercial, that's what popped into my head - and I wondered how many lactose intolerant people tried to fix digestive problems with that stuff and just made everything worse.

[Krakowiak]

30. Yami makes a lactose free yogurt

I was just diagnosed with Celiac's disease and was looking for some probiotics to help my gut. I'm also lactose intolerant. I found that Yami has lactose free, gluten free, probiotic yogurt and have been doing quite well with it.

[tridim]

31. I'm lactose intolerant and can eat yogurt.. ?

It was my understanding that the bacteria eats the lactose. Same deal with all cultured milk products.