Valio, the largest Finnish dairy company has been denied permission to advertise health benefits on some of its products. Valio Gefilus Max does not relieve your abdominal stress and Valio Evolus does not stiffen your arteries.
The news report can be found in English here:
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/10/eu_rejects_finnish_dairy_health_food_claims_1106562.html
The article is very sparse. I really would like to read a little more on this subject. I recall Finnish products with health benefits working their way to the US market where proving the health benefit was an uphill struggle. They succeeded too, if I recall what happened with Raisio's Benecol correctly.
But now Valio is mandated to stop their Gefilus ad campaign - they may still sell the drink but that's all. Actually, it's been a on the TV for a while now, they go as far as promising your money back if you don't feel any better after a while of drinking Gefilus. Now we know everyone who didn't request their money back was either lazy or enjoyed a placebo effect.
If you would like to see just how hard Valio pushes their snake oil, check you their advertisement (Finnish):
http://www.valio.fi/gefilus/?ad=gefilus
This should be quite a setback, but where are the articles on the topic? Fake medicine news are common and it's interesting / valuable / easy to write background on them. I would like to know if Valio has any products with a proven health benefit or if it's all a sham.
I wonder if this is a case where they do not want to tarnish Valio's reputation any more as it's such a large company?
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