# Can a supplement say “prevents”?

Source: https://claimsverified.org/claims/prevents/

No. Preventing a disease is a drug claim, so a dietary supplement cannot say it prevents any named condition. The construction the standard allows is “supports” plus a normal body function.

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Why it fails

## The rule this runs into.

Disease prevention is a drug claim.

We file this under disease verb and rate it critical. It is enforced by FDA, FTC, Amazon, Meta, Google, which matters because a single phrase can fail in more than one place at once: a listing suppression, an ad-account review and a warning letter are three different consequences of the same sentence.

What to say instead

## The wording that passes.

This is the rewrite an audit ships for this phrase: the strongest wording the standard allows, in the words we would hand you.

The rewrite the standard allows

'Supports [normal function]' - never prevention of a named condition.

Other claims you can use instead

Immune

Helps maintain a healthy immune response

Maintenance framing is the safest construction.

Cognitive

Supports cognitive function

Normal function.

Cardiovascular

Supports cardiovascular health

Broad structure/function.

Bone

Supports bone health

Normal structure.

Every structure/function claim on this page still needs the FDA disclaimer wherever it appears. That requirement has [its own ruling](https://claimsverified.org/claims/fda-disclaimer/).

## Is this phrase on your listing right now?

Run one ASIN through the free check. You get the severity counts on your own copy, ruled against all 109 standards, with no sales call attached.

[Free ASIN check](https://claimsverified.org/check/)

Nearby rulings

## Other phrases in the same family.

[ CriticalDisease verb Can a supplement say “cures”? ](https://claimsverified.org/claims/cures/)  [ CriticalDisease verb Can a supplement say “treats”? ](https://claimsverified.org/claims/treats/)  [ CriticalNamed condition Can a supplement say it is for anxiety? ](https://claimsverified.org/claims/for-anxiety/)
[All 37 published rulings →](https://claimsverified.org/claims/)

**Cite us**This ruling is free to quote. Credit “Claims Verified” and link here. It is regulatory review of marketing language, not legal advice.
audit@claimsverified.org →

Say the most the rules allow. Then keep selling it, everywhere, at any spend.

Clean copy can run on every channel at once, with the lines we flagged gone, so you can push budget knowing what a reviewer can find. And it is the brand a careful shopper can believe.