The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action against Vanilla Chip LLC, operating as TruHeight, for deceptive advertising practices related to its height-enhancing supplements for children and teenagers. The company, along with its principals Eden Stelmach and Justin Rapoport, has agreed to settle charges that they made unsubstantiated claims about their products' effectiveness.

TruHeight has been marketing its supplements since at least 2020, using various platforms such as social media and search engine ads to promote claims like 'Help your child grow taller! Pure Ingredients, Real Results.' However, the FTC's complaint states that these claims were not backed by competent scientific evidence, violating the FTC Act and the agency's Reviews and Testimonials Rule.

In addition to false claims, TruHeight allegedly published fake positive reviews written by employees and incentivized consumers to leave favorable reviews in exchange for free products. The FTC found that the company's website contained thousands of five-star reviews that were misleadingly presented as genuine customer feedback.

The proposed settlement includes a $4 million judgment against TruHeight, which will be partially suspended due to the company's financial situation. The order prohibits TruHeight from making false claims about height growth and requires any health-related claims to be substantiated by reliable scientific evidence. It also bans the company from misrepresenting reviewer identities and experiences.

The FTC's decision to issue the complaint and accept the consent agreement was unanimous, with a vote of 2-0. The consent agreement will be published in the Federal Register for public comment before it can be finalized.