FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, December 15, 2010
CONTACT: Sara Rabern,  (605) 773-3215

Dannon Settles Charges of Deceptive Advertising for Activia and DanActive for
$21 Million

PIERRE, S.D.- Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that South Dakota and 38 other Attorneys` General have filed settlements today with The Dannon Company, Inc. (“Dannon”). The Federal Trade Commission also filed a settlement with Dannon today. The Attorneys General and the Federal Trade Commission worked in close cooperation on the investigation. Under the multistate agreement, Dannon will pay $21 million to the Attorneys General to settle allegations that Dannon made unsubstantiated and unlawful marketing claims concerning the covered products. The $21 million payment is the largest payment to date in a multistate settlement with a food producer. South Dakota’s share in this settlement is $425,000.

The lawsuit filed today by the Attorney General alleges that Dannon made unlawful claims in advertising, marketing, packaging, and selling Activia yogurts and DanActive dairy drinks, including claims that were not substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence at the time the claims were made. 

The settlement terms limit the claims that Dannon can make regarding the covered products.  Specifically, Dannon may not represent that the covered products can prevent, treat, cure or mitigate disease.  Additionally, Dannon must possess competent and reliable scientific evidence to support otherwise permissible claims about the health benefits, performance, efficacy or safety of its probiotic food products.

Dannon cooperated with the multistate investigation and does not admit any wrongdoing and denies the factual allegations asserted in the Attorney General’s Complaint.

Consumers who have complaints about unsubstantiated health or advertising claims or any consumer matter should contact the South Dakota Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-300-1986 or at consumerhelp@state.sd.us.