Question

When an advertisement suggests that science is used to back up their product, it is okay to believe them because a government agency regulates what the advertisers state.

Answer 1

Not necessarily. The FDA does not technically have to approve a product before it hits the market, but the product must have "full and honest" information included before it goes to consumers. This is a big problem in the dietary supplement industry because a lot of them use novel compounds that might not be healthy but they count on the naivety of the consumer to not notice/care if the product has some weird sounding ingredient. Also, companies will use "third party studies" that claim the product works. Although this may be true, to what extent is unknown. They could have just tested it on 5 subjects, which would in no way be statistically appropriate (or to FDA standards). Lastly, simple word choice can be misleading. "Studies show that this product MAY greatly reduce...", yea and I MAY find a million bucks on the street tomorrow morning, but I highly doubt it.