GVH: Innovelle Pharma cooperated, so it has to pay more than HUF 10 million less in fines

According to the announcement, back in October 2020, the agency reprimanded the company for its misleading advertisements, and imposed a fine of almost HUF 47 million on it.

It was recalled that the GVH established in its previous procedure concluded in October 2020: unfair trade practices with health claims used by Innovelle Pharma Kft. from October 1, 2016 to April 2020 in the promotion of the dietary supplement film-coated tablets and effervescent tablets containing CalciTrio calcium, vitamin K2 and vitamin D3 and thereby committed an infringement.

In connection with the case, the national competition authority draws the attention of businesses to the fact that advertising claims related to food, regarding nutritional composition and health, are directly regulated by European Community law.

According to the regulations, it is forbidden to make a health claim in relation to food, unless it meets the conditions defined in the regulation and is included in the itemized EU list of permitted claims based on scientific knowledge.

Against these permitted conditions, Innovelle Pharma Kft. deceptively claimed in its advertisements that its product helps deliver and integrate calcium into the bones, while it could only have claimed that the component of its product participates in the maintenance of normal bones.

Therefore, the commercial practice of the company was considered unfair – read the statement of the GVH.