A Review of 56 Diabetes Related Warning Letters

I reviewed all diabetes and blood sugar related FDA warning letters since the beginning of last year and found some interesting results. These findings provide a snapshot of where the FDA is finding and perhaps looking for risky words. We can learn a lot from this, and it's an excellent reminder for companies to re-review these areas to ensure no risky statements are lurking on their website or social platforms.

There have been 56 blood sugar and diabetes-related FDA warning letters since the beginning of 2021. This is a lot, demonstrating the FDA's continuing attention to this high-risk diabetes and blood sugar category.

62% of these warning letters include claims made on social media. This should come as no surprise but is an important reminder to scan for high-risk words on socials, including old posts. Here is a post and video about this.

26% of these letters include claims made in blogs. This is a strong enforcement trend to watch as the FDA looks at old blogs in the same manner as current blogs. I have found this to be a common oversight, as companies have learned about compliance over the years and their new blogs are compliant, while their forgotten older blogs are riddled with disease claims. Scanning these forgotten blogs is a great way to reduce risk, and this is a service we at Supplement Advisory Group are often hired to conduct.  Here is a post about best practices for reducing risk in blogs.

23% of these warning letters include claims made in testimonials. The FDA and FTC are generally "hands off" with non-curated, honest, 3rd party generated product reviews. These cross the line into marketing claims when a company engages with them or showcases them in any way, such as copying an Amazon review onto social media or showing them on a product page. Here is a post that shows how engaging with product reviews led to a company warning letter.

25% of these letters include hashtags. Hashtags are easily searchable and can turn compliant posts into disease claims with an uncompliant hashtag. Here is a video about this.

👉Here is a learning tool titled "Protect Your Company: Learn to read warning letters."

I hope you enjoyed reading the synopsis, and I welcome your thoughts!

Disclaimer: The educational information provided here is for informational purposes only. Contact an attorney for specific legal advice. Rule #1 in compliance is to ensure marketing is truthful and not misleading.