California Regulators Crack Down on Goop After TINA.org Complaint

MADISON, CONN. September 5, 2018 – Acting on a complaint filed by ad watchdog, truthinadvertising.org (TINA.org), California regulators have reached a stipulated final judgment with Goop for using unsubstantiated health claims to market products, including its Jade Egg, Rose Quartz Egg and Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend.

The action by the California Food, Drug, and Medical Device Task Force comes nearly a year after TINA.org alerted the group through two of its member district attorneys to more than 50 unsubstantiated health claims in Goop’s marketing after the company made only limited changes to correct the deceptive marketing in response to a TINA.org warning letter.

While the company must pay civil penalties totaling $145,000, the real focus of the settlement is stopping Goop from further engaging in deceptive marketing. The settlement bars the company from making unsubstantiated claims regarding any nutritional supplement or medical device Goop promotes. In addition, according to the Santa Cruz District Attorney’s press release, consumers who purchased the Jade Egg, Rose Quartz Egg and Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend between January 12, 2017 and August 31, 2017 are entitled to a full refund because the eggs were deceptively marketed as having the ability to balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles, prevent uterine prolapse, and increase bladder control, while the Essence Blend was said to help prevent depression.

“For far too long Paltrow and Goop have been taking advantage of susceptible consumers by using deceptive and misleading health claims to sell their wares and turn a profit,” Bonnie Patten, executive director of TINA.org stated. “This settlement makes clear that no health and wellness company is above the law, and that Goop’s past illegal marketing tactics will no longer be tolerated.”

This is the second time the task force has taken action against a company for deceptive advertising following a TINA.org investigation. In 2016, the consumer protection officials ordered Minnesota-based MyPillow to pay more than $1 million after TINA.org provided the task force with its investigative findings of the company’s unsubstantiated health claims that its pillow treats everything from insomnia to PTSD, and of its cozy relationship with the National Sleep Foundation that it wasn’t disclosing in ads.

To read more about TINA.org’s investigation of Goop’s deceptive health claims, see:

https://truthinadvertising.org/articles/california-cracks-down-on-goop-after-tina-org-complaint/