A nonprofit watchdog organization filed a complaint with the California Food Drug and Medical Device Task Force Aug. 22 accusing the Gwyneth Paltrow-owned lifestyle website Goop of proffering "deceptive" health claims in more than 50 instances, according to SFGate.
The Madison, Conn.-based organization compiled a list of more than 50 instances in which Goop claimed its products, or the products of third-party vendors, could "treat, cure, prevent, [or] alleviate the symptoms" of a variety of health issues, the report states.
"These [Goop-endorsed products] include crystal harmonics for infertility, rose flower essence tincture for depression, black rose bar for psoriasis, wearable stickers for anxiety and vitamin D3 for cancer," the organization said in a blog post Aug. 22. "The problem is that the company does not possess the competent and reliable scientific evidence required by law to make such claims."
The organization sent a letter to Ms. Paltrow and Goop about its findings Aug. 11 and asked the lifestyle company to modify its content. Truth in Advertising gave Goop until Aug. 18 to make the requested changes before stating it would file a complaint with the California task force, the report states.
A Goop representative told BuzzFeed News, "Goop is dedicated to introducing unique products and offerings and encouraging constructive conversation surrounding new ideas."
The spokesperson continued, stating the company "responded promptly and in good faith to the initial outreach from representatives of TINA … Unfortunately, they provided limited information and made threats under arbitrary deadlines which were not reasonable under the circumstances. … While we believe that TINA's description of our interactions is misleading and their claims unsubstantiated and unfounded, we will continue to evaluate our products and our content and make those improvements that we believe are reasonable and necessary."
To read Goop's full statement to BuzzFeed, click here.