Why You Should Avoid Companies Making Claims?
You may have noticed Canis World is very careful about making any claims. A claim is something that says this product can help or cure with condition or symptom x, y or z. Claims are strictly prohibited according to the FDA and any company selling cannabinoids making them would be in violation of such rules and regulations.
If you go to many other websites that sell products in this space, you may often times see claims related to various conditions or symptoms they state the product is known to help with AND you may further see links to research from reputable sources that would tend to confirm their claims.
What is the problem you ask? As strange as it may sound, even if you link to an outside source it can be considered a “claim” due to the inference the product you are advertising will do something similar.
OK, so perhaps all of this is starting to bore you and you might be asking yourself why so much talk about claims, rules, regulations and can’t we just focus on something more valuable about the product?
Let me ask you a question? What is perhaps one of the most important things you would look for in a business? Take a moment to consider the question and then I’ll share with you my answer.
I’d offer that TRUST is perhaps one of the most valuable qualities in not only business relationships, but personal relationships and really almost all encounters we have with others. Warren Buffett is big on management and is known not to invest in a company even if they have the best idea in the world if he doesn’t like the management. Probably because he knows when push comes to shove it is the ethics and leadership guiding a company that help determine its success or lack thereof.
If you can’t trust a person to do what they say they are going to do a lot of bad consequences can follow. Dogs are inherently trusting and have a strong desire to please. As a result, you’ve probably become very fond of your dog. You know they will always be there for you, love you unconditionally and trust you.
Trust is built up slowly over time, drop by drop, but can be lost very quickly in buckets. It is a precious commodity that should always be nurtured.
So back to my point about claims. If you see a company making claims despite some disclaimer saying “these claims have not been evaluated by the FDA, blah, blah, blah”. I have news for you. The asterisk next to the disclaimer does not remove the burden from the company to not engage in making claims. It is not a get out of jail free card to say anything you want.
So, any company making claims in all likelihood is technically in some sort of violation of the law. Mind you, I’m certainly not an attorney, but my understanding is that claims relating to structure, or function are prohibited.
Therefore, when you look at 99% of the industry making these claims, it begs the question:
- Do they know they may be in violation?
- If they don’t know they are in violation, why don’t they.
- If they do know they are in violation, perhaps they figure they might just wait for a “warning letter” from the FDA and grab as much market share as they can in the meantime and if they need to correct things they will do so at a later date.
I guess ultimately the BIG question I ask myself is if they are making claims they shouldn’t be making, what else might they be doing that they shouldn’t be doing? Can they really be trusted?
If they are willing to bend the rules surrounding claims, are they willing to bend the rules with other things they tell you on their website?
If they are not aware of the rules, do you really want to do business with a company that is ignorant on important matters? What else might they be ignorant about?
At Canis World we may be in the 1% or small percent of companies that are trying to strictly adhere to the “letter of the law”. Maybe that makes us square or Dudley Do-righters, but at the end of the day we want to always try our best to do things the right way. We know everyone makes honest mistakes once in a while, so we are not judging anyone. We mainly wanted to let you know that we feel TRUST is something to be valued.
Here is our promise to you. We want to not only earn your trust, but keep your trust. We will always try to treat you in the same manner that we would want to be treated. With respect, with honesty and with trust.
We don’t need to be the biggest seller or make the most money as a company, but we do want to develop a close family of customers whose trust we value and work to keep. And we’d also like our customers to understand everything we try to do is for their benefit and ultimately the benefit of the dog or dogs they love so much and trust so much. When you purchase from Canis World we know you are buying something for someone you really love. We get it, so we will do everything on this end to help you keep the trust and love of your dog.
Believe me, if we could make a “claim” we would not be shy about it, because we have supreme confidence in our product and we know its good capabilities. Unfortunately, our relating some of these personal experiences would be considered making a claim, so until such time as the rules may change, you’ll need to try it for yourself, secure in the knowledge we are doing everything the best we can for your benefit.
Yours in Health,
Stuart Little