FOR YOUR INFORMATION..........................MARCH 18, 1993
The Federal Trade Commission has given final approval to a
consent agreement with Alan Phan, of Los Alamitos, California,
settling charges that he made false and deceptive claims about
the health risks of smoking "Jazz cigarettes" -- a non-tobacco
product made from a tobacco-like leaf -- and deceptive claims
about the product's ability to help people quit smoking.
Phan is the owner of the Harcourt Companies, a sole
proprietorship located in Los Alamitos and the distributor for
Jazz cigarettes.
Under the final consent order, Phan is prohibited from
making the following specific health-risk claims about Jazz or
any substantially-similar product:
-- smoking them poses no health risk for the user;
-- smoking them does not pose any of the health risks
associated with tobacco cigarettes; and
-- their smoke contains no tar.
Further, the consent order prohibits Phan from making any
misrepresentation with regard to federally-required health
warnings on cigarette products. The order also prohibits
representations -- unless substantiated by competent and reliable
scientific evidence -- that any product is effective in aiding
people to quit smoking tobacco products.
Finally, the order contains a provision that prohibits Phan
from making any representations about the comparative or absolute
health or safety attributes, benefits or risks of any cigarette
or smoking product, unless the representations are true and he
has competent and reliable evidence to substantiate them.
The five-member Commission vote for final approval of the
consent agreement was 5-0.
- more -
(Alan Phan/Jazz Cigarettes--03/18/93)
The consent agreement was placed on the public record on
Dec. 10, 1992 and issued in final form on March 12.
(Docket No. C-3417)
NOTE: A consent agreement is for settlement purposes only and
does not constitute admission of a law violation. When the
Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries
the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation
of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $10,000.
A press release summarizing the complaint and consent agree-
ment was issued at the time the Commission accepted the consent
agreement for public comment. Copies of that release and of the
final order are available from the FTC's Public Reference Branch,
Room 130, 6th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20580; 202-326-2222; TTY for the hearing impaired 202-326-
2502.
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT: Don Elder, Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2181
STAFF CONTACT: Jeffrey Klurfeld or Kerry O'Brien
San Francisco Regional Office
901 Market Street, Suite 570
San Francisco, California 94103
415-744-7920
(FTC File No. 922 3155)
(Docket No. C-3417)
(JAZZ-2) |
