Claim rulingsDisease verb

Can a supplement say “treats”?

No. “Treats” is an explicit disease claim under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, so a dietary supplement cannot use it at all. Reframe the sentence around the normal function the ingredient supports.

Severity we assign
Critical
Standard family
Disease verb
Enforced by
FDA, FTC, Amazon, Meta, Google

Why it fails

The rule this runs into.

Explicit disease claim under FDCA.

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 compliant version.

This is the rewrite an audit ships for this phrase, in the words we would hand you.

The ruling’s own rewrite

Remove. Reframe to what the ingredient supports in normal function.

Claims that hold in its place

Sleep
Supports restful sleep

Sleep is a normal function.

Mood
Supports a positive mood

Normal-function framing.

Digestive
Supports digestive health

Broad and safe.

Joint
Supports joint comfort and mobility

'Comfort' replaces 'pain' throughout.

Every structure/function claim on this page still needs the FDA disclaimer wherever it appears. That requirement has its own ruling.

Is this phrase on your listing right now?

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Nearby rulings

Same family, same trap.

All 37 published rulings →

Cite usThis ruling is free to quote. Credit “Claims Verified” and link here. It is regulatory review of marketing language, not legal advice.

audit@claimsverified.org →