Publicity for food products and pharmaceuticals

Article 31 (3) of the regulations on food and commodities (LGV) prohibits "references of any kind of illness-curative, -relieving or -preventing effects of food or commodities". The Swiss Federal Court has already judged several cases on this regulation. The Federal Court does not interpret the term of illness within advertisements and in connection with advertising messages in a restrictive sense. Advertising referring to health, as far as it is based on justifiable facts and does not mislead the public, is not forbidden by the aforementioned regulation. Thus, it may be pointed out in an advertisement that a regular consumption of milk is good for the health, because thereby the body will be naturally supplied with calcium, which appears to be favourable for the building of bones. On the other hand, the indication that the calcium in the milk helps to prevent "reduction of bone density in old age, so-called Osteoporosis" is unacceptable ("cow Lovely advertisement" in BGE 127 II 91/101).

The sense and purpose of the principal prohibition of medicinal effects are to prevent fundamental errors of the public and thus an at best unfit self-medication due to the stated illness-referred effects of food and commodities. Indications of preventing, treating or curing effects shall be scientifically confirmed and in principle developed in a drug-legal procedure. The manufacturer is required to place its product on the market as medication whereby the endangered public interests are then protected in the context of drug legislation. However, illness-specific advertising and thus health-endangering pseudo-science regarding products, which did not successfully pass the drug law procedure, shall be banned.