Almost a month after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its revised Green Guides, the National Advertisers Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau ruled that GreenPan, Inc. should discontinue numerous environmental claims when marketing its nonstick cookware. GreenPan’s claims promoted the fact that its products do not use the chemicals PFOA or PTFE.
DuPont, a chemical company which also markets a nonstick coating system for cookware that use perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in its manufacturing process for coatings containing Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), argued that GreenPan’s claims conveyed the misleading message that PTFE non-stick coatings – including non-stick coating systems manufactured without PFOA – are unsafe, unhealthy, and environmentally harmful. DuPont’s chief concern was that GreenPan’s advertising conveyed the misleading message that all PTFE non-stick coatings are made with PFOA.
PFOA — a key processing agent in making nonstick and stain-resistant materials — has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals and is in the blood of 95 percent of Americans, including pregnant women. It has also been found in the blood of marine organisms and Arctic polar bears. DuPont and several other companies agreed in 2006 to virtually eliminate this harmful chemical used to make Teflon from all consumer products coated with the ubiquitous nonstick material by 2015.
The NAD recommended that GreenPan discontinue the use of certain “free-of” PFOA claims. Most noteworthy in the decision; however, is the NAD’s recommendation that GreenPan discontinue its “eco-friendly” claims. This is noteworthy because the FTC’s revised Green Guides discourage in very certain terms the use of generic clean claims, such as “eco-friendly.” The combined effect of the FTC’s revised Green Guides and the NAD’s decision which promptly follows it should put marketers on notice to start revising those generic green claims that are virtually impossible to substantiate.
