Prostate supplement adverts and home testing kits have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over concerns they could mislead vulnerable people.
The advertising regulator took action against adverts from Nutrisslim, Nutreance, Muxue Trade and Impact Herbs for claiming their products could treat an enlarged prostate, prostate inflammation or urinary flow problems.
None of the products were authorised medicines. Under advertising rules, food products including supplements cannot make medicinal claims.
The ASA also banned ads from home testing kit companies Lifelab Testing and Self Check for stating that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests could diagnose or rule out prostate cancer.
A PSA test, which measures a blood protein made by the prostate, cannot do either on its own, and both ads failed to make clear the tests’ limitations.
The ASA said many of the claims it had seen were “unacceptable” and that “misleading ads about prostate supplements or tests can cause real harm.”
Amy Rylance, from Prostate Cancer UK, said the charity was “pleased to see the ASA getting proactive in identifying and banning these dangerous and misleading adverts.”
She added: “There is no evidence that supplements can treat, cure or prevent prostate problems, and they should not be used in place of speaking to a doctor about your risk of prostate cancer, or more general concerns about your prostate health.”
Nutreance, trading as Top 5 Supplements, said its ads did not state or imply that its product treated, prevented or cured any disease or medical symptoms.
Nutrisslim, trading as Nature’s Finest by Nutrisslim, said the claims in its ads related to botanical ingredients, which it believed could be used in advertising.
It said references to a doctor and to the product being “doctor-formulated” had been removed from its website.
Self Check said its products were CE certified for self-testing and that every product page contained a disclaimer informing consumers that because the tests were not 100 per cent accurate at diagnosing a specific medical condition, they may want to consult their GP first.
Lifelab said it had the correct CE markings for an in-vitro diagnostic device, that the product was suitable for sale in the UK, and that the ads had been removed and would not be used again.
Muxue and Impact Herbs, trading as Impact Supps, did not respond to the ASA.
