Complaints against products and services making health claims
Daniel Ryan made this Official Information request to Commerce Commission
The request was successful.
From: Daniel Ryan
Dear Commerce Commission,
For the complaints in the past 12 months for products and services making health claims:
1) How many are currently in an investigation?
2) How many complaints were received?
3) How many complaints were rejected?
4) How many complaints were completed?
5) What companies are in an investigation?
6) What complaints were rejected against which company? Why were they rejected?
7) Which complaints were completed and what action was taken against those companies?
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Ryan
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
Thank you for contacting the New Zealand Commerce Commission.
If your request is for information under the Official Information Act
(OIA) we will respond to it within 20 working days.
If your enquiry is not a request for information under the OIA, please
contact our Contact Centre, on 0800 943 600 or [1][email address]
OIA Co-ordinator
Information Systems | Organisational Performance
Commerce Commission l Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace l PO Box 2351 l Wellington 6140 l New Zealand
E: [2][Commerce Commission request email]
[3]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [4]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
References
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2. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]
4. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/ev...
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
Hi Daniel
This email is to acknowledge that we have received your request for
information under the Official Information Act 1982. We may publish the
response on the Commission’s website but you will be notified if this is
to happen and all personal information will be redacted.
You can expect a response to your request within 20 working days, on or
before 7 May 2019.
Mary Sheppard
OIA Coordinator | Organisation Performance Branch
Commerce Commission | Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace | PO Box 2351 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
[1]twitter-bird-16x16Follow us on Twitter [2]@NZComCom
[3]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [4]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
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From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
Dear Daniel,
We wish to clarify the scope of your Official Information Act request, to
ensure you receive the most relevant information.
Our complaints database contains a number of searchable fields, including
the name of the trader being complained about, details of the complaint
and date received. The most effective way of searching our complaints
database is within these fields (e.g. by trader name and/or keyword/s
contained in the complaint description, within a set time period).
Our complaints database does not contain a field for category (e.g. health
claims). A search for the phrase "health claims" across all fields returns
41 complaints and enquiries; these may not all be relevant to your
request.
We can proceed with this search term, or we invite you to consider whether
there are additional/alternate search terms that better reflect the
information you are seeking.
Please do not hesitate to contact us on [1][Commerce Commission request email] or via FYI
if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Mary Sheppard
OIA Coordinator | Organisation Performance Branch
Commerce Commission | Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace | PO Box 2351 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
[2]twitter-bird-16x16Follow us on Twitter [3]@NZComCom
[4]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [5]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]
3. http://www.twitter.com/nzcomcom
5. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/ev...
From: Daniel Ryan
Dear Mary,
This is for general research so all 41 complaints around health with all the information will be great thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Ryan
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
Thank you for contacting the New Zealand Commerce Commission.
If your request is for information under the Official Information Act
(OIA) we will respond to it within 20 working days.
If your enquiry is not a request for information under the OIA, please
contact our Contact Centre, on 0800 943 600 or [1][email address]
OIA Co-ordinator
Information Systems | Organisational Performance
Commerce Commission l Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace l PO Box 2351 l Wellington 6140 l New Zealand
E: [2][Commerce Commission request email]
[3]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [4]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]
4. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/ev...
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
Dear Ryan,
Thank you for your response. We will proceed with your request for
information using the search term "health claims".
Pursuant to section 15(1)(1AA) of the OIA, the Commission will be treating
your clarified request as a new request with a due date of 30 May 2019. We
will respond as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case not later
than 30 May 2019.
Please do not hesitate to contact us on [1][Commerce Commission request email] or via FYI
if you have any questions in the meantime.
Kind regards,
Mary Sheppard
OIA Coordinator | Organisation Performance Branch
Commerce Commission | Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace | PO Box 2351 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
[2]twitter-bird-16x16Follow us on Twitter [3]@NZComCom
[4]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [5]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]
3. http://www.twitter.com/nzcomcom
5. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/ev...
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
image001.png
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3532364 OIA 18.187 Health Claims Response Letter.PDF.pdf
468K
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Hi Daniel
Please find attached our response letter.
The Commission will be publishing the response to your request on its
website, but all personal information will be redacted .
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact
us at [1][Commerce Commission request email]
Mary Sheppard
OIA Coordinator | Organisation Performance Branch
Commerce Commission | Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace | PO Box 2351 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
[2]twitter-bird-16x16Follow us on Twitter [3]@NZComCom
[4]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [5]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]
3. http://www.twitter.com/nzcomcom
5. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/ev...
From: Daniel Ryan
Dear Mary,
Thank you for the information. However, I believe some information is missing.
There was a Sleepdrops complaint made within the last 12 months which partly talked about the health claims. Can you include this complaint and can you double check for any other complaints that might have also slipped through using other keywords e.g "cure", "treat", "therapeutic", "therapy", "remedy", etc.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Ryan
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
Thank you for contacting the New Zealand Commerce Commission.
If your request is for information under the Official Information Act
(OIA) we will respond to it within 20 working days.
If your enquiry is not a request for information under the OIA, please
contact our Contact Centre, on 0800 943 600 or [1][email address]
OIA Co-ordinator
Information Systems | Organisational Performance
Commerce Commission l Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace l PO Box 2351 l Wellington 6140 l New Zealand
E: [2][Commerce Commission request email]
[3]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [4]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]
4. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/ev...
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
Hi Daniel
This email is to acknowledge that we have received your request for
information for under the Official Information Act 1982. We may publish
the response on the Commission’s website but you will be notified if this
is to happen and all personal information will be redacted.
You can expect a response to your request within 20 working days, on or
before 28 June 2019
Mary Sheppard
OIA Coordinator | Organisation Performance Branch
Commerce Commission | Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace | PO Box 2351 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
Follow us on Twitter @NZComCom
show quoted sections
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
Dear Daniel
Thank you for your e-mail in relation to our response to your OIA request
(our reference 18.187). We have treated your e-mail as a new OIA request
(our reference 18.210).
Our system does not file complaints in the category of “health claims” and
it is possible that we have received complaints that raise issues about
health claims where our record of the complaint does not itself use those
words. The only way to find these complaints will be to search key terms.
We would like to clarify with you the scope of your request.
We have searched the terms “cure”, “treat”, “therapeutic”, “therapy”, and
“remedy”, as you have suggested. “Remedy” and “treat” did not generate any
relevant results. Searches for “cure”, “therapy” and “therapeutic”
returned 8 results. We have also searched the terms “curing”, “treatment”,
“medicinal”, “healing”, and “relief.” These search terms have returned 6
complaints and 1 general enquiry. We have also searched “restore”,
“curative”, “heal”, “restoration”, “remedial treatment”, “relieving” and
“corrective”, and these terms produced zero results.
Please note, some search terms return the same results as other terms.
Would you like to include any further terms in this search?
We can proceed by providing you with the complaints we have found, or we
invite you to consider whether there are additional/alternate search terms
that better reflect the information you are seeking.
Please do not hesitate to contact us on [1][Commerce Commission request email] or via FYI
if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Mary Sheppard
OIA Coordinator | Organisation Performance Branch
Commerce Commission | Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace | PO Box 2351 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
[2]twitter-bird-16x16Follow us on Twitter [3]@NZComCom
[4]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [5]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]
3. http://www.twitter.com/nzcomcom
5. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/ev...
From: Daniel Ryan
Hi Mary
I can't think of any extra terms to add. So yes those terms will do. Thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Ryan
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
Thank you for contacting the New Zealand Commerce Commission.
If your request is for information under the Official Information Act
(OIA) we will respond to it within 20 working days.
If your enquiry is not a request for information under the OIA, please
contact our Contact Centre, on 0800 943 600 or [1][email address]
OIA Co-ordinator
Information Systems | Organisational Performance
Commerce Commission l Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace l PO Box 2351 l Wellington 6140 l New Zealand
E: [2][Commerce Commission request email]
[3]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [4]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]
4. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/ev...
From: Commerce Commission OIA Requests
Commerce Commission
image001.png
1K
Download
3555858 OIA 18.210 Health Claims response letter.PDF.pdf
241K
Download
View as HTML
3555860 OIA 18.210 Health Claims complaint data.PDF.pdf
293K
Download
View as HTML
HI Daniel
Please find attached our response letter and attached complaint data.
The Commission will be publishing the response to your request on its
website, all personal information will be redacted .
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact
us at [1][Commerce Commission request email]
Mary Sheppard
OIA Coordinator | Organisation Performance Branch
Commerce Commission | Te Komihana Tauhokohoko
44 The Terrace | PO Box 2351 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
[2]twitter-bird-16x16Follow us on Twitter [3]@NZComCom
[4]LOGO
Competition Matters 2019, Auckland 25 and 26 July. Register [5]here.
This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
views presented in this email may not be those of the Commission.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]
3. http://www.twitter.com/nzcomcom
5. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/ev...
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Mark Hanna left an annotation ()
That seems like a fair call, I think. Though it would be technically possible for them to review every complaint and make an assessment as to whether or not it was about health claims, the Commerce Commission would be able to reasonably refuse to take that approach citing Section 18(f) of the OIA.
Perhaps a list of health conditions, e.g. cancer, would be a good set of additional search terms to suggest. It might also be useful to add terms for certain categories of health product, such as "homeopathic".
Link to this