117.  CMO Distribution Centers of America, Inc., File No. 982 3180 (April 2000)

118.  EHP Products, Inc. File No. 982 3181 (April 2000)

119.  Michael D. Miller d/b/a Natural Heritage Enterprises, File No. 992 3225 (April 2000)

Respondents: CMO Distribution Centers of America, Inc and Kalon Samulonis; EHP Products, Inc. and Elaine H. Parrish; and Michael D. Miller d/b/a Natural Heritage Enterprises

Type:  Deceptive Metatags & Health Product Claims

The FTC alleged that defendants sold products containing cetylmyristoleate (CMO) or Essiac Tea and that they touted their products as being effective treatments or cures for various diseases, including arthritis, cancer, diabetes and AIDS, without adequate substantiation to support the claims.

The FTC alleged that EHP and Miller used "metatags" to further their deceptive claims.  Metatags are imbedded in a Web site’s source code and do not appear on a Web page visible to the consumer. Metatags are used by search engines to index and categorize Web sites. Here, EHP allegedly inserted keywords like "arthritis cure" and "medical breakthrough" in its metatags, and Miller allegedly inserted terms like "cancer treatment" and "cancer cures" in his metatags. Miller also allegedly attached text tags like "cures brain cancer" and "cures lupus" to graphics files on his site – text tags that would appear when a consumer’s cursor ran over graphics images. Finally, Miller also allegedly linked consumers to other Web sites that purportedly gave independent information about Essiac Tea, but in fact were created by Miller himself. These technical tricks, according to the FTC, exacerbated the deceptive nature of respondents’ claims.

The FTC reached settlements with all the respondents in these cases. The consent orders bar Miller, CMO Distribution and EHP from making unsubstantiated claims for their respective products and for any food, drug, dietary supplement or program and from misrepresenting the results of any tests, study or research. The settlements also bar respondents from making any representations about the performance, safety, efficacy or health benefits of their products or any other food, dietary supplement or drug, without adequate substantiation. The orders require CMO Distribution and EHP to offer full refunds to consumers who purchased their products and to notify their distributors of the settlements and to monitor their future advertising. The settlement with Miller would require him to pay $17,500 in consumer redress and to notify purchasers that Essiac Tea has not been demonstrated to be an effective remedy in fighting cancer or any other disease.