What We Do

Testing & Evaluation

The Institute arranges for lab testing and evaluation of consumer products to assess the accuracy of their labels and advertising claims. We look for the following:
  1. Ingredients that are not listed on the label.
  2. Ingredients that are listed on the label but not included in the product.
  3. False claims about the effectiveness of the product.
  4. The omission of a material fact about the product.

Consumer Protection

Often, the federal government is the only party that can take action to enforce federal truth in advertising statutes. However, the budgets of federal agencies are limited. So, often they are underfunded and understaffed, and end up unable to fully enforce their own truth in adverting laws.

 

If the Institute concludes that a product is being deceptively labeled or otherwise advertised, we can proceed in one or more of the following ways:

  • Request that the manufacturer or retailer change its practices.

  • Notify the appropriate federal agency.

  • Notify the attorney general of the state in which the product was manufactured, sold or delivered.

  • Take legal action.

Deceptive Pricing Investigation

Retailers often use deceptive pricing schemes involving misleading comparisons between their selling prices and fictitious higher prices, commonly referred to as the “retail” price, “regular” price, “MSRP” (manufacturer’s suggested retail price), “SRP” (suggest retail price), etc. Or they make misleading comparisons between their current pricing and their own prior pricing of a product.

 The Institute compares a retailer’s price for a product with what other retailers are charging for the same product to verify the accuracy of a company’s comparative pricing and “savings” claims. And where a retailer claims price reductions from its own prior pricing for a product, we compare that prior pricing with the alleged reduced price to determine whether the claimed price reduction is false or misleading.