ARMRA Colostrum Supplements

Bovine colostrum, the milk produced by cows in the first few days after giving birth, provides a number of health benefits for newborn calves – and, if you are to believe the marketers of bovine colostrum supplements, for humans, too.

Unfortunately, as TINA.org informed consumers in April, the science doesn’t seem to support many of the health claims being used to promote bovine colostrum supplements. Four months later, that hasn’t changed.

Yet this has not stopped ARMRA, which was one of the bovine colostrum companies TINA.org investigated, from continuing to deceptively market its products, including through three national television ads that debuted in the weeks after TINA.org published its findings.

In the commercials, ARMRA claims that its Immune Revival supplement improves focus, fortifies gut health, activates hair growth and strengthens immunity, among other things. As of last week, ARMRA had spent nearly $1.8 million on the three ads, according to data provided by iSpot.tv, an ad-tracking firm.

The new ad campaign, which is ongoing, also comes after ARMRA was sued for falsely marketing its bovine colostrum products as “research-backed.” The lawsuit, which was filed 10 days after TINA.org published its article on ARMRA and other bovine colostrum supplements and which cited TINA.org’s investigative findings, was voluntarily dismissed on May 31.

Despite the new ad campaign and the continued use of similar deceptive health claims on ARMRA’s website, there have been some marketing changes to the ARMRA site since TINA.org last reported.

On a benefits page, for example, ARMRA has removed language that said bovine colostrum is “at least 3X more effective” at preventing flu than the flu vaccine, citing the findings of “clinical studies.”

Before:

After:

And on a research page, ARMRA has implemented a number of changes since TINA.org’s investigation. Most notably, instead of touting studies documenting colostrum’s “ability” to optimize health at all stages of life, the page now refers to colostrum’s “potential” to optimize health at all stages of life.

Before:

After:

But the research page still highlights the same four “studies” on the purported benefits of bovine colostrum that TINA.org examined in April and found riddled with issues, including the fact that they are not themselves studies but rather reviews of studies, one of which concluded that more research is needed to evaluate the long-term safety and effectiveness of bovine colostrum supplementation.

What does the law have to say about all this? According to the FTC, claims about the health benefits of a product must be substantiated by “competent and reliable scientific evidence,” generally in the form of randomized, controlled human clinical trials. The four reviews cited by ARMRA do not meet this standard.

And according to the FDA, claims to improve focus and reactivate hair growth – just two of the claims made in ARMRA’s new commercials – are drug claims requiring its approval, which the company does not have.

Meanwhile, ARMRA admits in a fine-print disclaimer that was added after TINA.org’s investigation that its understanding of bovine colostrum is “constantly evolving,” continuing:

We stay up-to-date on the latest scientific findings to ensure we’re bringing you the most comprehensive understanding of ARMRA Colostrum’s potential benefits.

The keyword here that consumers should take away with them is potential benefits. Because while ARMRA is spending millions of dollars to advertise a range of health benefits for users, the products have not been proven.

ARMRA did not respond to TINA.org’s request for comment.

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