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Dannon Company settles FTC charges.

The Dannon Company, Inc. has agreed to stop making unsubstantiated claims about its Activia yogurt and DanActive dairy drink, which contain potentially beneficial bacteria known as probiotics. [Dannon agrees to drop exaggerated health claims for Activia yogurt and DanActive dairy drink. FTC news release, Dec 15, 2010] http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/12/dannon.shtm  Under the settlement:

**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 FDA.

**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 substantiated by at least two well-designed human clinical studies.

**Dannon may not make any other claims about health benefits, performance, or efficacy of any yogurt, dairy drink, or probiotic food or drink, unless the claims are true and backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

The FTC worked in close coordination with 39 state attorneys general, who are simultaneously announcing the resolution of their own inquiries into Dannon's advertising of DanActive and Activia. Dannon has agreed to pay the states $21 million to resolve these investigations. Dannon has also settled a class-action suit by agreeing to create a $35 million fund to reimburse consumers for up to $100 for products purchased. http://www.casewatch.org/civil/dannon/settlement.pdf
(from www.quackwatch.org)