The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has recommended that Elations Company, LLC, modify or discontinue certain advertising claims for its Elations Liquid Supplements product. NAD found the advertiser could support certain claims.

As part of its ongoing monitoring, NAD requested substantiation for claims and testimonials in advertising by The Elations Company, LLC, for its Elations Liquid Supplements, a line of glucosamine and chondroitin enhanced beverages.

Express claims at issue included:

“A clinical study shows that people with joint discomfort who drank Elations experienced significant improvements in joint comfort in six days, with very strong results in as little as 3 days!”

“is more absorbable than pills”

“improves joint comfort in six days—faster than any other leading joint supplement brand.”

“drink just one bottle every day for stated results.”

“Calcium, Citric Acid & Malic Acid: The combination of these ingredients in CCM can more effectively strengthen bones compared to calcium alone because CCM has better absorbability, meaning your bones will ‘drink it up’ … whether or not Vitamin D is present.”

“Clinical studies report that Calcium absorption from CCM was 26% greater than that of calcium carbonate.”

“Boron: Helps Retain 40% More Calcium”

“Boron helps the body to retain calcium whether or not Vitamin D is present….”

Testimonials claims at issue included:

Mary Ann L.: “… after drinking Elations for 3 days, I went to work and didn’t have the discomfort…”

Kathy, Southern California: “within one week I started to notice the difference.”

Mary K.: “I started drinking Elations every day, and after only about 2 weeks I could feel a significant difference.”

“The change was amazing [My husband] felt a difference in his knee almost instantly.”

“… walking was difficult and I had a hard time getting out of bed … [now] I can live normally…”

NFL All Pro … Jerry Rice considers a return to the football field, thanks to Elations…. “With 20 years in the NFL, my body really took a beating, but after adding Elations to my daily regiment this summer, I feel as though I’m in my 20s again… I feel like I could still go out there [on the field] and compete – and perform to the level I am accustomed to – all thanks to Elations.”

The advertiser explained that Elations dietary supplement is a patented liquid dietary supplement formula, created by The Procter & Gamble Company and now owned by the Elations Company LLC, which contains 1500 mg of glucosamine and 1200 mg of chondroitin.

The advertiser maintained that the ingredients at such levels have been tested by the National Institutes of Health and proven to be effective in delivering comfort to sufferers of joint discomfort. The advertiser explained that its Elations dietary supplement also contains a patented form of calcium citrate malate, which delivers calcium to the body in a more absorbable form than regular calcium, and boron in a patented liquid form.

Following its review of the evidence in the record, including a study commissioned by the advertiser, NAD concluded that the evidence was insufficient to support the specific claims that Elations provides “significant improvements in joint comfort in six days, with very strong results in as little as 3 days” or “faster than any other leading joint supplement brand” and recommended that these claims be discontinued.

NAD determined that the advertiser’s evidence did provide a reasonable basis for qualified claims about the product and the promising results of certain studies performed on the ingredients in the product.

NAD found that the evidence provided a reasonable basis for claims related to faster absorbability, but cautioned that any such claims be properly qualified so as to avoid the implication that faster absorbability translates to superior efficacy of its product.

NAD recommended that the claim “drink just one bottle [of Elations] every day for stated results,” be discontinued where the claim refers to the performance benefits at six days (or as little as three days.)

NAD concluded that the body of evidence provided by the advertiser provided a reasonable basis for its claims that “[b]oron helps the body to retain calcium whether or not Vitamin D is present…” and similar claims.

The advertiser agreed to modify its claim, “Boron: Helps Retain 40% More Calcium” to more accurately reflect the underlying evidence that “Boron Helps Retain 35.7% More Calcium.”

NAD determined that the evidence provided a reasonable basis for the advertiser’s claims that “the combination of these ingredients in CCM can more effectively strengthen bones compared to calcium alone because CCM has better absorbability, meaning your bones will ‘drink it up’ … whether or not Vitamin D is present” and that “[c]linical studies report that Calcium absorption from CCM was 26% greater than that of calcium carbonate.”

NAD further concluded that the testimonials concerning more general “joint relief” testimonials were adequately supported.

However, with respect to those testimonials stating that Elations is effective after 3 days, one week, or two weeks, NAD recommended that these testimonials be discontinued.

The company, in its advertiser’s statement said it strongly disagrees with NAD’s conclusions regarding six- and three-day product performance claims.

The company noted, however, that it “will take the NAD’s guidance into account in future advertising and substantiation testing.”