"Health" water turned out to be marketing, and the company was fined: AMCU made a decision
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine recognized a violation of the legislation on protection against unfair competition by the LLC due to the dissemination of false information about the health properties of the water.
The issue was considered at the AMCU meeting following the results of the inspection of information posted on the company's website. The Committee found that the company spread information about the alleged health effect of the specified water.
To confirm these claims, the company provided a number of documents, including reports from the State Scientific Institution "Ukr. Research Institute of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine" and letters from medical workers. However, the AMCU concluded that these materials are not proper and sufficient confirmation of the declared product properties.
The Committee also noted that the data on the website about the health effect were not the subject of relevant scientific or clinical studies. At the same time, the reliability of such claims can only be confirmed by the results of clinical trials, while doctors' letters are not sufficient evidence.
Thus, the AMCU also established that the disseminated information could influence consumers' decisions regarding the purchase of the product, creating potential unlawful competitive advantages for the company in the market.
As a result of the case review, the Committee recognized the LLC's actions as a violation of the legislation on protection against unfair competition and imposed a fine.
The Committee noted that the enterprise agreed with the AMCU's conclusions and ceased disseminating the disputed information on its website, which was taken into account when making the decision.
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