Regulatory body issues warning against skin supplement

The maker of natural supplements Lichtwer Pharma has been warned against making anti-ageing claims for a supplement designed to promote healthy skin by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The ASA received complaints about a national press advertisement for the supplement called ReviFace, billed as 'a revolutionary new anti-ageing skin supplement that helps maintain healthy looking skin.'

Text on the packet, featured in an image of the product in the ad, said that the supplement 'helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles' and 'helps maintain skin elasticity and moisture'. The ASA however said clinical evidence submitted by the company was flawed, and told the advertisers not to repeat the claims without holding rigorous, controlled clinical trials.

ReviFace contains marine and plant extracts and antioxidants to help nourish skin 'from within'. Lichtwer sent a report of a double-blind placebo-controlled study, two published papers based on that report and five other trial summaries to the ASA, according to the authority. They also sent a report and a national press article about a consumer study on the advertised product and documents from which the parameters evaluated in all the studies were chosen.

However an expert consulted by the authority said that the double-blind trial contained significant flaws and showed only very small effects. The rest of the evidence was deemed largely anecdotal.

Complaints against the claim 'anti-ageing skin supplement' and the claims 'helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles' and 'helps maintain skin elasticity and moisture' were both upheld.

A further complaint, whether the name 'ReviFace' was an implied efficacy claim, was not upheld. The advertisers said the product name was used globally for the product and was a registered trademark. The Authority agreed that ReviFace would not be seen as an implied efficacy claim and did not object.