NAD Refers Tyson Food's Advertising Claim to the FTC and the USDA

National Advertising Division

New York, NY - September 10, 2001 - The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB), the advertising industry's self-regulatory forum, announced today that it has referred advertising claims by Tyson Foods, Inc., for its chicken products, to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The truth and accuracy of Tyson's claims was brought to the attention of the NAD by Perdue Farms, Inc. and Gold 'n Plump Poultry, manufacturers of competing chicken products.

The challengers contended that Tyson's claim that its chicken contains "no hormones and no steroids added" is misleading because it implies that its competitors, like Perdue and Gold 'n Plump, add steroids to their chicken products, when in fact that is not the case. The challengers explained that the policies of the USDA prohibit the adding of these chemicals to poultry products.

Tyson notified the NAD that it has elected not to respond to the complaint or participate in the self-regulatory process, because of internal developments. However, Tyson explained that it intended to let the current advertising booking run before discontinuing the "no hormones and no steroids added" claim.

NAD noted that although Tyson informed NAD that it intended to discontinue the "no hormones and no steroids added" claim, it continued to disseminate it on the Internet. Consequently, the NAD referred the claim to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for their review.

NAD's inquiry was conducted under NAD/CARU/NARB Procedures for the Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising. Details of the initial inquiry, NAD's decision, and the advertiser's response will be included in the next NAD Case Report.

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The National Advertising Review Council (NARC) was formed in 1971 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA), the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Inc. (AAAA), the American Advertising Federation, Inc. (AAF), and the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB). Its purpose is to foster truth and accuracy in national advertising through voluntary self-regulation. NARC is the body that establishes the policies and procedures for the CBBB's National Advertising Division (NAD), the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU), and the National Advertising Review Board (NARB).

NAD and CARU are the investigative arms of the advertising industry's voluntary self-regulation program. Their casework results from competitive challenges from other advertisers, and also from self-monitoring traditional and new media, including the Internet. The National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appeals body, is a peer group from which ad-hoc panels are selected to adjudicate those cases that are not resolved at the NAD/CARU level. This unique, self-regulatory system is funded entirely by the business community; CARU is financed by the children's advertising industry, while NAD/NARB's sole source of funding is derived from membership fees paid to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.