{"id":481,"date":"2026-08-03T16:32:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/?p=481"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:32:47","slug":"ftc-approves-final-order-against-truheight-for-deceptive-and-unsubstantiated-advertising-of-supplements-for-kids-and-teens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/?p=481","title":{"rendered":"FTC Approves Final Order Against TruHeight for Deceptive and Unsubstantiated Advertising of Supplements for Kids and Teens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a id=\"main-content\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"primary-layout-columns\">\n<div class=\"usa-layout-docs__main\">\n<div class=\"region region-content\">\n<div id=\"block-block-content-b5025772-a547-4f8f-a251-ec580178b320\" class=\"block block-block-content block-block-contentb5025772-a547-4f8f-a251-ec580178b320 block--block-content--basic\">\n<div class=\"block-content block-content--type-basic block-content--983 block-content--view-mode-full\">\n<div class=\"block-content__content\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div id=\"block-system-main-block--3\" class=\"block block-system block-system-main-block\">\n<div class=\"block-content-container\">\n<article class=\"node node--type-press-release node--view-mode-full node--334533\">\n<div class=\"node__content\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-tags-view field--type-viewfield field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__item field__item-label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"view view-tags__block view-tags view-id-tags view-display-id-block js-view-dom-id-df00ecbc27b3353ee6de53899d9bb09b120f4923b9f021b52ba4bf20357fe1f9 view--block\">\n<div class=\"view__content\">\n<div class=\"view-content\">\n<div class=\"item-list\">\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"views-field views-field-name\"><span class=\"field-content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/consumer-protection\">Consumer Protection<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"views-field views-field-name\"><span class=\"field-content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/bureau-consumer-protection\">Bureau of Consumer Protection<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"views-field views-field-name\"><span class=\"field-content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/health\">Health<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"views-field views-field-name\"><span class=\"field-content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/business-guidance\/advertising-marketing\">Advertising and Marketing<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\">\n<p>The Federal Trade Commission finalized an order with Vanilla Chip LLC\u2014which does business as TruHeight\u2014and its two principals requiring them to pay $750,000, while barring them from making false or unsupported health claims and using fake or incentivized consumer reviews.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/system\/files\/ftc_gov\/pdf\/2423093truheightfinalorder.pdf\">order finalized by the Commission<\/a> settles allegations, brought by the FTC in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2026\/04\/ftc-takes-action-against-truheight-deceptive-unsubstantiated-advertising-supposed-height-enhancing\" data-entity-type=\"node\" data-entity-uuid=\"d7fc84da-8b12-41ed-8902-5b3900539df9\" data-entity-substitution=\"canonical\">April 2026<\/a>, that TruHeight and its two principals, Eden Stelmach and Justin Rapoport, deceptively advertised the effectiveness of a range of supplements that claim to boost height growth in children and teenagers. The complaint also alleged that TruHeight and its principals relied on reviews that were written by their own employees and vendors, or by consumers who were offered a free product or discount in return for writing a 5-star review.<\/p>\n<p>The FTC alleged that TruHeight\u2019s height-based growth claims were unsubstantiated because TruHeight lacked competent and reliable scientific evidence to back them up. TruHeight also used fake social media profiles that, while masquerading as belonging to real, existing users, were in reality run by bots, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n<p>The FTC\u2019s final order imposes a $4 million judgment on TruHeight and its principals, which will be partially suspended after they pay $750,000 based on their inability to pay the full amount. The proposed order also prohibits TruHeight, Stelmach and Rapoport from:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Making false or unsubstantiated height and growth claims;<\/li>\n<li>Making any claims about the health benefits, performance, efficacy, safety or side effects of any product covered by the order, unless the claim is not misleading and is supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence;<\/li>\n<li>Misrepresenting that a reviewer exists, that a reviewer used the product, service or business being reviewed, or the reviewer\u2019s experience with the product, service or business being reviewed; and<\/li>\n<li>Buying consumer reviews conditioned on a particular sentiment, whether positive or negative, about the product being reviewed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Commission voted 2-0 to finalize the complaint and order as well as provide a response to the commenter.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-boilerplate-block field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field--count-1\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"block-content block-content--type-boilerplate block-content--3 block-content--view-mode-default\">\n<div class=\"block-content__content\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\">\n<p><span>The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/about-ftc\/bureaus-offices\/bureau-consumer-protection\"><span>protect and educate consumers<\/span><\/a><span>. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/consumer.ftc.gov\/\"><span>consumer.ftc.gov<\/span><\/a><span>, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/reportfraud.ftc.gov\/\"><span>ReportFraud.ftc.gov<\/span><\/a><span>. Follow the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/stay-connected\/social-media\"><span>FTC on social media<\/span><\/a><span>, read <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/consumer.ftc.gov\/consumer-alerts\"><span>consumer alerts<\/span><\/a><span> and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/business-guidance\/blog\"><span>business blog<\/span><\/a><span>, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/stay-connected\" data-entity-type=\"node\" data-entity-uuid=\"179e3a69-54d7-43a6-aab3-3c5a9f847919\" data-entity-substitution=\"canonical\"><span>sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/article><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"views-element-container block block-views block-views-blockftc-press-release-block-8\" id=\"block-views-block-ftc-press-release-block-8--3\">\n<div class=\"block-content-container\">\n<div class=\"view view-ftc-press-release__block_8 view-ftc-press-release view-id-ftc_press_release view-display-id-block_8 js-view-dom-id-f92afe2b47034bef6e7074c16eb065a8cf77401fdd5d64770990290c7aa600b2 view--block\">\n<div class=\"view__content\">\n<div class=\"view-content\">\n<div class=\"views-row\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2026\/04\/ftc-takes-action-against-truheight-deceptive-unsubstantiated-advertising-supposed-height-enhancing\">FTC Takes Action Against TruHeight for Deceptive and Unsubstantiated Advertising of Supposed Height-Enhancing Supplements for Kids and Teens<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"views-element-container block block-views block-views-blockftc-press-release-block-7\" id=\"block-views-block-ftc-press-release-block-7--3\">\n<div class=\"block-content-container\">\n<div class=\"view view-ftc-press-release__block_7 view-ftc-press-release view-id-ftc_press_release view-display-id-block_7 js-view-dom-id-cb3529f31fef83e39c060d52e3e925ed1eec545d768771a11cc43419989eeb54 view--block\">\n<div class=\"view__content\">\n<div class=\"view-content\">\n<div class=\"views-row\">\n<h3 class=\"views-label views-label-field-media-contacts\">Media Contact<\/h3>\n<div class=\"paragraph paragraph--type--media-contact paragraph--view-mode--default\">\n<div class=\"paragraph__content\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-media-contact-single field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field--count-1\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<article class=\"node node--type-biography node--view-mode-contact-information node--80977\">\n<div class=\"node__content\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2026\/07\/mailto:vgraham@ftc.gov\"><br \/>\n<span>Victoria Caslow<\/span><br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-division field--type-string field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\">Office of Public Affairs<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-phone field--type-telephone field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\">415-848-5121<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2026\/07\/ftc-approves-final-order-against-truheight-deceptive-unsubstantiated-advertising-supplements-kids\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Press Release Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2026\/07\/ftc-approves-final-order-against-truheight-deceptive-unsubstantiated-advertising-supplements-kids\">Press Release Feed<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Federal Trade Commission finalized an order with Vanilla Chip LLC\u2014which does business as TruHeight\u2014and its two principals requiring them to pay $750,000, while barring them from making false or unsupported health claims and using fake or incentivized consumer reviews.View Press Release<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-civil-service-independent-agencies-federal-trade-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":688,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions\/688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}