this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Not quite. The consent agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute admission by the respondent of a law violation. Activia Ingredients. The Dannon Company, Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges of deceptive advertising and drop claims that allegedly exaggerated the health benefits of its Activia yogurt and DanActive dairy drink. In one television ad, a boy takes an exam at school, plays baseball in the rain, and gets thrown to a mat during a martial arts class. In Danone’s most recent quarter, sales in the Essential Dairy & Plant-Based International line, saw sales fall 2.9 percent in North America, though a press release said the “yogurt segment continued to demonstrate resilience” in the US. Like many foods that make grandiose claims to transform your body, Activia has been hit with criticism over the years. Companies like Dannon shouldn’t exaggerate the strength of scientific support for their products.”. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our. Plus, there are other places (aside from supplements) to get probiotics, says Keri Gans, R.D.N, like regular yogurt. Arguably, Activia’s biggest downside that it has been positioned as a diet food, and diet culture has shifted dramatically in recent years, eschewing manufactured diet products, like Special K, for more healthful, natural foods. Dannon may claim that eating fewer than three servings a day provides these benefits only if the company is relying on two well-designed human clinical studies substantiating that the claim is true. According to the FTC’s complaint, Dannon claimed in nationwide advertising campaigns that DanActive helps prevent colds and flu, and that one daily serving of Activia relieves temporary irregularity and helps with “slow intestinal transit time.” In television, Internet, and print ads, as well as on product packaging, Dannon also stated that there was scientific proof to back up these claims. The color drains from his face and body as he arrives home, and his mother hands him a bottle of DanActive. Meanwhile, Activia has been working on rebranding itself as a female-positive brand. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through January 18, 2011, after which the FTC will decide whether to make it final. Its winter ad “Don’t Tell Me I Can’t” riffs on the increasingly popular (and bizarre) trend of overhauling a diet food as an empowering food for women. In fact, Chobani, which has only been around since 2005, holds a bigger market share of the US yogurt industry than both General Mills (which holds Yoplait) and Dannon, according to IBISWorld. Like many foods that make grandiose claims to transform your body, Activia has been hit with criticism over the years. However, not everyone can access these foods so easily. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000. DanActive is a drink …

I tried Activia by Dannon and was not pleased. According to the FTC’s complaint, Dannon’s advertisements for DanActive conveyed to consumers that drinking the product reduces the likelihood of getting a cold or flu. MyRecipes may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. (Activia now  couches its benefits by saying it “may help reduce the frequency of minor digestive discomfort.”) A recent study from the University of Toronto highlighted that you’d have to eat somewhere between 2 and 25 Activia yogurts a day to get a real effect. © 2017 MyRecipes.com is part of the Time Inc. Food Collection and the Time Inc. Lifestyle Network. The yogurt, introduced in France in 1987 by Danone (known as Dannon in the US), is known for its probiotics—which supposedly make you more regular (cue this Saturday Night Live sketch poking fun at its potency). The screen then shows a woman’s midsection, on which a clump of yellow-green balls is superimposed, representing the transit of food through the digestive system. Can the probiotic yogurt make it in a Greek yogurt world? Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Workplace Inclusion, Reporting Fraud, Waste, Abuse or Mismanagement, What You Need to Know About the Office of the Inspector General, Companies and People Banned From Debt Relief, Statute, Rules and Formal Interpretations, Post-Consummation Filings (HSR Violations), Retrospective Review of FTC Rules and Guides, Other Applications, Petitions, and Requests, Magnuson-Moss Warranty Public Audit Filings, International Technical Assistance Program, Competition & Consumer Protection Authorities Worldwide, Hearings on Competition & Consumer Protection, List a Number on the National Do Not Call Registry, File Documents in Adjudicative Proceedings, Dannon Agrees to Drop Exaggerated Health Claims for Activia Yogurt and DanActive Dairy Drink.

Dannon may not claim that Activia yogurt will relieve temporary irregularity or help with slow intestinal transit time, unless the claim is not misleading and the ad conveys that three servings of Activia yogurt must be eaten each day to obtain these benefits. And that is where something like Activia—though not a perfect food—might come into play, should someone really like it. With 25% less sugar, it's the drinkable probiotic yogurt with the least sugar on the market. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Dannon is prohibited from claiming that any yogurt, dairy drink, or probiotic food or drink reduces the likelihood of getting a cold or the flu, unless the claim is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. So where does that leave Activia? (A 5.3-ounce serving of nonfat Chobani has 15 grams; a 4-ounce container of Activia has 4 grams.). Find recipes with ingredients that you have on hand. Copies of the complaint, the proposed consent agreement, and an analysis of the agreement to aid in public comment are available from both the FTC’s website at http://www.ftc.gov and the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has reason to believe that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest.

This may be a fluke do to the fact that I've been eating less in these four days (somehow I never feel as hungry during the day when I have Activia for breakfast). Although companies usually do not need FDA approval of their health claims to comply with the FTC Act, the FTC determined in this case that requiring FDA approval will give Dannon clearer guidance going forward, and help ensure that it complies with the settlement order. Not everyone lives in a metropolis, or even near a health food store, or has the disposable income to go to a coffee shop with kombucha on tap—let alone lives near a store that sells kombucha. So what does Activia contain? Though the yogurt industry has had a recent, rapid ascension, the real star of the industry has been Greek yogurt. Dannon may not claim that any other yogurt, dairy drink, or probiotic food or drink will relieve temporary irregularity or help with slow intestinal transit time unless the claim is not misleading and the company has two well-designed human clinical studies that substantiate the claim. “Consumers want, and are entitled to, accurate information when it comes to their health. 'I eat all kinds of yogurt products and drink milk often. Each serving of Activia Drinks also contains billions of the culture Bifidobacterium animalis lactis DN-173 010/CNCM I-2494), which has been shown to survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract in sufficient amounts. The FTC will publish an announcement regarding the agreement in the Federal Register shortly. A graphic shows Dannon’s probiotic ingredient, L. casei Immunitas, plugging holes in the intestinal wall so that purple balls bounce off the wall rather than entering the holes. Activia also has several factors that dampen its image to the savvy, health-conscious consumer: it’s not 100% natural, it has sugar listed as its second ingredient, and it has significantly less protein than its Greek counterpart. Activia Shot Probiotic Yogurt Drink. Consumers can file a public comment online. All Rights Reserved. As a voiceover assures that DanActive is “clinically proven to help strengthen your body’s defenses,” color returns to the boy’s face and body and he is surrounded by a new, protective, yellow shield as he runs out of the house.

The first day I had diarrhea. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. eschewing manufactured diet products, like Special K. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the respondent has actually violated the law. The Dannon Company, Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges of deceptive advertising and drop claims that allegedly exaggerated the health benefits of its Activia yogurt and DanActive dairy drink. In the 4 days I've been drinking the Activia drink, I've only had 1 watery stool.

Ingredients: Activia contains cultured reduced-fat milk, water, sugar, fruit sugar or fructose, food starch (modified), >1% milk protein concentrate, kosher gelatin, cornstarch (modified), guar gum, agar, lactic acid, vitamin D3, sodium citrate, and calcium lactate.

Dannon will stop claiming that one daily serving of Activia relieves irregularity, and that DanActive helps people avoid catching colds or the flu. It is now easy to get your probiotics daily with probiotic* yogurt Activia Drink.