Pfizer agrees to drop certain health promotions from Centrum labels

After a recent bout with the consumer watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the major pharmaceutical company Pfizer has agreed to remove a few key promotions from the labels of some of its products in exchange for not being sued by the consumer group.

Pfizer acquired the vitamin and supplement company Centrum with its 2009 purchase of Wyeth, a rival U.S. company. The drug company agreed to remove the points on Centrum’s custom labels that denote its beneficiency to colon and breast health. CSPI alleges that those claims imply that Centrum is able or prevent cancer or other diseases associated with breast and colon health, which is illegal for manufacturers to put on their products.

In its settlement with CSPI, Pfizer agreed to remove all claims of colon and breast health and will now provide a qualifier to any mentions of “heart health” saying that the supplement does not substitute for drugs that lower cholesterol. In addition, it will do the same for any claims on energy, saying it does not directly provide energy but just supports it by aiding the individual’s metabolism.

And although Pfizer disagrees with CSPI’s findings, it still settled to take off colon and breast health, but kept a few other key benefits of using Centrum on their labels such as eye and bone health.

If any other companies that manufacture or sell vitamins and supplements wish to avoid the costly litigations associated with these watchdog groups, as well as the reputational setbacks they may face from being called out on false claims, then they may want to redesign their own labels.

Regardless of motivations, using a color label printer to accurately and honestly label a product’s benefits and ingredients can help foster consumer trust which can lead to a stronger and more respected brand image.