FTC Takes Action Against TruHeight for Deceptive and Unsubstantiated Advertising of Supposed Height-Enhancing Supplements for Kids and Teens

Nevada-based Vanilla Chip LLC, which does business as TruHeight, and its two principals, Eden Stelmach and Justin Rapoport, have agreed to settle the Federal Trade Commission's charges that they deceptively advertised the effectiveness of a range of supplements touted as supporting height growth in children and teenagers, and relied on reviews that were written by their own employees and vendors, or by consumers who were offered a free product or discount in return for writing a 5-star review.

"The law is clear: you must have competent and reliable scientific evidence to support health claims about your products or services, said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "TruHeight not only made unsubstantiated claims about its products' capacity to boost height growth in children and teenagers but also amplified those claims with fake and incentivized reviews."

Respondent TruHeight has been selling supplements that purport to boost height growth in children and teenagers since at least 2020. Respondents Eden Stelmach and Justin Rapoport are the co-founders, co-owners, and co-chief executive officers of TruHeight. Using social media, search engine ads, email campaigns, and the company's website, TruHeight made claims including "Help your child grow taller! Pure Ingredients, Real Results" and "The Only Supplement Clinically Proven to Help Height Growth," to promote its products.

According to the FTC's complaint, however, these claims were unsubstantiated because TruHeight lacked the competent and reliable scientific evidence required to back up the height-based growth claims it made. To further induce consumers to buy its products, TruHeight also published fake positive consumer reviews.