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Old 12-22-2005, 07:50 AM   #2 (permalink)
canadiantanguy
 
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Re: Fabutan and Competition Bureau reach agreement on Vitamin D health benefits from ultr

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=106&sid=655471

Tanning firms can promote beds as vitamin D source

Dec 21st - 8:20pm



TORONTO (CP) - Canada's largest indoor tanning company can promote that tanning is a source of vitamin D and may have health benefits but it must make it clear that the benefits are not proven, according to an agreement with the Competition Bureau.

The federal regulator asked Fabutan Sun Tan Studios last March to stop making what it said were false claims about the benefits of tanning beds.


At issue, were the chain's statements that tanning was a treatment for vitamin D deficiency and that indoor tanning helps seasonal affective disorder and weak metabolisms. The Competition Bureau also challenged Fabutan's claim that tanning prevents or fights such diseases as cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis.

Fabutan president Doug McNabb said Wednesday he's thrilled with the development, which he says means companies can now promote that indoor tanning can boost the body's level of vitamin D.

"It's a big win for us," McNabb said in a telephone interview. "We can state that it has been shown and proven that vitamin D is produced as a result of a tanning session and then talk about the associative health benefits of vitamin D."
The company can continue to cite studies that link vitamin D with the prevention and treatment of several diseases but it must be clear to indicate that the studies are not conclusive or proven, McNabb said.

The notice must be in the same type size and in close proximity to the claims.
"We can communicate that vitamin D has been associated with the reduced risk of breast, prostate and ovarian cancer, multiple sclerosis and diabetes," said McNabb, whose firm has 150 franchises across Canada.

But the company is acknowledging that ultraviolet exposure does not stimulate the thyroid and improve metabolism, as it had previously stated.
McNabb acknowledged the information turned out to be inaccurate but said it was buried on Fabutan's website and was never meant to be a promotional tool to lure people onto tanning beds.

"It was five clicks in on our website, it was never an intention for a consumer to be blasted with the benefits of tanning when they entered the website," he said.
"We've never advocated or heavily promoted the health benefits of tanning in our marketing strategies and I don't foresee us changing that. It's going to be an information type of thing where we just want to be able to share with Canadians these types of benefits."

The company will post a corrective notice on its website, pay a $62,500 administrative fee and donate $12,500 to charity.

The Competition Bureau would not comment.

Dr. Reinhold Vieth, a professor in the departments of nutritional sciences and laboratory medicine at the University of Toronto, studies vitamin D and was an expert witness for Fabutan. He said he wasn't surprised by the outcome.
"There were obviously some things (like the thyroid claims) that might've been total nonsense but I would say three quarters of what (the company) said was scientifically correct," he said.

Vieth added that the claims were based on preliminary research and not more thorough research known as randomized controlled trials.

The agreement states the company can only make claims without disclaimers if the information has passed randomized controlled trials or is endorsed by Health Canada.

"Most of what was said on the website was supported by literature but not in the same quality of evidence that one would want if you were to go to the doctor for a prescription," Vieth said.

Steve Gilroy, director of Smart Tan Canada which represents 600 indoor tanning salons, said the decision has vindicated the tanning industry.

"We think it's about time the Canadian government (said) what we've known for the last 20 years - a tanning bed will produce vitamin D," he said. "The industry is finally able to talk about something that has existed for (decades)."

Health Canada has said UV exposure can be hazardous to a person's health and in the long term can contribute to premature aging and skin cancer. But some doctors say exposure to sunlight or tanning in booths is an appropriate way to boost vitamin D levels.

In its statement, Fabutan says that tanning "whether by sunlight or sunbed, produces vitamin D in the body. . . . Tanning is not required to generate vitamin D."

The company goes on to say that vitamin D levels in the body may be increased by oral supplements without tanning.
© The Canadian Press, 2005
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