Do you or members of your family take vitamins to provide all the essential nutrients your body needs? Did you buy L’il Critters Multivitamins, Vitafusion Women’s Complete Multivitamins, or Vitafusion Men’s Complete Multivitamins because the advertising claimed they are “complete” and provide “essential” nutrients?
We’re investigating these vitamins, their advertising claims, and their actual contents to see if a class action is warranted on the basis of false advertising.
What Does the Advertising Say?
Many consumers these days are looking for healthy foods and supplements, and they are willing to pay more for what they see as quality. Companies cater to this desire in their advertising.
The company that makes these vitamins, Church & Dwight Co., Inc., has advertised these vitamins as “complete” and providing the “essential” nutrients people need.
For example, the front label of the L’il Critters product advertises it as a “Complete Multivitamin.” The website page says, “For a complete children’s multivitamin with a delicious fusion of vitamins and minerals, try L’il CrittersTM Gummy VitesTM.”
The page for Vitafusion Women’s Complete Multivitamins says, “Women’s gummy vitamins provide a complete multivitamin formula that has been specially formulated to support the specific health needs of women. A fusion of essential vitamins, minerals and natural fruit flavors…”
Similarly, the page for Vitafusion Men’s Complete Multivitamins says, “Men’s multivitamin provides a complete gummy multivitamin that has been specially formulated to address the health needs of men. These delicious gummies combine essential vitamin and minerals with natural fruit flavors.”
What’s the Problem?
Consumers are now alleging that the vitamins are not “complete,” but in fact lack three vitamins that are “essential” for health: vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), and vitamin K. Also, they claim, the Men’s version of the vitamins claims to offer vitamin B3 (niacin) when it does not.
The complaint for a recent class action against Church & Dwight argues that consumers were misled by the company’s claims, thinking that the vitamins were “complete” and would provide all the “essential” nutrients they needed.
The judge in the case found that, whether or not the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a fixed definition of “complete” for multivitamins, consumers could still be misled by the advertising and labeling.
What Do You Look for in a Multivitamin?
Did you buy any of these multivitamins? Was your purchase influenced by the claim that they were “complete” and supplied “essential” nutrients? If so, fill out the form on this page and let us know what your experience was.
Article Type: InvestigationTopic: Consumer
