Food Marketing, Advertising, and Promotion Essentials: Ensuring Claims Compliancy and Meeting Substantiation Standards Relative to Health, Nutrition, Structure, and Function

July 16, 2026 4:00pm

Adam M. Ekonomon
Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
The J.M. Smucker Co.

Emily Cowley
Counsel
Arentfox Schiff LLP

Justin Prochnow
Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig LLP

  • Examining the relationship between the food product label and advertising and promotion
  • Understanding what you can and cannot say in food advertising and promotion
  • Overview of food product claims and the regulatory requirements for making each:
    • Puffery vs. Claims
    • Nutrient and health
    • Structure/function – dietary supplements vs. conventional foods
    • Mental performance and focus
    • Disease
    • Health / Qualified Health
    • Comparative
    • Taste and #1 / Favorite
  • Distinguishing FDA and FTC jurisdiction and authority relative to claims substantiation in food advertising and promotion
  • Identifying proofs required to substantiate product claims under FDA and FTC expectations:
    • Clinical studies
    • Scientific evidence and testing
    • Consumer surveys
    • Taste and internal expert panels
    • Market research
  • When social media and websites can be viewed as a means of advertising and promotion
  • Understanding what recent enforcement actions reveal about food and beverage marketing and advertising vulnerabilities
  • Monitoring of food advertising by National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau (NAD):
    • Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU)
  • Exploring Lanham Act challenges relative to false and misleading claims for competitor products
  • Identifying circumstances under which disease prevention claims for a food product may relegate that product to the status of an unapproved new drug