Need to rank ethics in advertising, put 'explosive' advertising functional foods on the 'blacklist'

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam shares at the seminar on Ethics in advertising functional foods - Photo: D.LIEU

This is the opinion of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, shared at the seminar on Ethics in advertising functional foods, organized by the Department of Food Safety and the Vietnam Functional Food Association on the morning of May 29.

Dietary supplements cannot cure diseases.

The Vietnam Association of Functional Foods has just issued a decision on the code of ethics for advertising functional foods. Here, members of the association must follow these regulations to prevent false advertising of functional foods.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dang, President of the Vietnam Functional Food Association, said that besides contributing to protecting people's health, the current situation of advertising functional foods causes frustration for both industry insiders and consumers.

According to the association's advertising ethics regulations, there are four ethical violations: false, deceptive, and counterfeit advertising; exaggerated, product-inflating advertising; ambiguous, misleading advertising; advertising targeting sensitive audiences (cancer and terminally ill patients).

"There are advertising messages that are like bombs dropped on public awareness: "Commitment to cure completely, no charge; Eliminate type 1 and type 2 diabetes, completely eliminate high blood pressure",...

No scientific product has such an effect. False advertising in the field of functional foods causes extremely dangerous harm to society," Mr. Dang affirmed.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Director of the Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health), also said that the danger of false advertising in the medical field is not only financial but also affects the health of patients.

Terminally ill patients who are detected and treated early can be cured, or at least their lives can be prolonged. However, advertisements that promise a cure make consumers believe, leading to missing the golden time for treatment.

"There are even products containing banned substances that are still detected through inspection and testing and transferred to the police for criminal prosecution. To further raise public awareness, the media needs to strongly promote that functional foods cannot cure diseases," Mr. Phong emphasized.

Should put the violating brand on the "blacklist"

Speaking at the seminar, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam said that the issue of false advertising of functional foods has been a burning issue in the community recently.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam shared at the seminar - Photo: D.LIEU

Mr. Lam also said that the current advertising of functional foods is not only dependent on the advertising unit, cross-border platforms such as TikTok, Facebook but also artificial intelligence and algorithms. These are the difficulties in managing, handling and warning consumers.

According to Mr. Lam, to control false advertising content for functional foods, it is necessary to pay attention to cyberspace. "Currently, there are many measures to deal with domain names and businesses that violate advertising regulations such as blocking international domain names or imposing domestic penalties.

In addition, we can rank according to ethical standards in the field of advertising. Along with that, we need to collect statistics, detect and punish violations, and put violating brands on the "black list" to warn cooperative units and consumers. Any businesses on this list will easily lead to risks and brand crises," said Mr. Lam.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoang, permanent vice president of the Vietnam Functional Food Association, also said that the association is proposing a "green light - red light" format, with green being products that do not violate regulations, including advertising, and will be recommended for use by the association. Meanwhile, "red" products are products that violate regulations and will be advised to be cautious when using them.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong also said that the proposal of a "blacklist" for sites that violate advertising regulations can be implemented. For businesses that advertise without an advertising acceptance certificate, even if the content is not in violation, it is still a violation.

For businesses that have received an advertising permit, but advertise in a way that does not match the content of the license application, it is also a violation. These lists of violations can be made public on many platforms to warn people.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/can-xep-hang-dao-duc-trong-quang-cao-dua-thuc-pham-chuc-nang-quang-cao-no-vao-danh-sach-den-20240529153219889.htm