ANALYSIS OF PROPOSED CONSENT ORDER
TO AID PUBLIC COMMENT
In the Matter of Interstate
Bakeries Corporation, File No. 012 3182
The Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission has
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing a
consent order from Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC).
The proposed consent order has been
placed on the public record for thirty (30) days for receipt of
comments by interested persons. Comments received during this period
will become part of the public record. After thirty (30) days, the
Commission will again review the agreement and the comments
received, and will decide whether it should withdraw from the
agreement or make final the agreement's proposed order.
This matter involves allegedly
unsubstantiated representations made on television and in Internet
advertising about the effects of the calcium in Wonder Bread on
children's memory and brain function. According to the FTC
complaint, IBC made unsubstantiated claims that as a good source of
calcium, Wonder Bread helps children's minds work better and helps
children remember things.
The proposed consent order contains
provisions designed to prevent IBC from engaging in similar acts and
practices in the future. Part I of the proposed order prohibits IBC
from making any unsubstantiated claim (a claim lacking competent and
reliable scientific evidence) that as a good source of calcium,
Wonder Bread helps children's minds work better, or as a good source
of calcium, Wonder Bread helps children remember things.
Part II of the order requires IBC to
have competent and reliable scientific evidence for any claim that
any of its breads, bread products, rolls or muffins or any of their
ingredients, helps brain function or memory, or can treat, cure or
prevent any disease or related health condition. Part II also
provides that a mere statement that a product contains a particular
vitamin or mineral will not, without more, be considered for
purposes of this order a representation that the product can treat,
cure or prevent any disease or related health condition.
Part IV of the order states that the
order does not apply to any label or labeling printed before the
order is served on IBC and shipped by IBC's bakeries to distributors
or retailers within nine months after the order is issued.
Part III of the order notes that this
order does not prohibit IBC from making any claim that is
specifically permitted in labeling pursuant to the Nutrition
Labeling and Education Act of 1990. Parts V through VIII of the
order require IBC to keep copies of relevant advertisements and
materials substantiating claims made in the advertisements, to
provide copies of the order to certain of its personnel, to notify
the Commission of changes in corporate structure, and to file a
compliance report with the Commission. Part IX provides that the
order will terminate after twenty (20) years under certain
circumstances.
The purpose of this analysis is to
facilitate public comment on the proposed order, and it is not
intended to constitute an official interpretation of the agreement
and proposed order or to modify in any way their terms. |