Penalty Amount
$750,000
The FTC alleged that Vanilla Chip LLC (d/b/a TruHeight) deceptively advertised height-enhancing supplements for children and teens without competent scientific evidence, and used fake employee-written and incentivized 5-star reviews. The proposed settlement requires TruHeight and its principals to pay $750,000, bars false health claims, and prohibits misleading review practices. A $4 million total judgment is partially suspended due to the respondents' inability to pay the full amount.
TruHeight and its principals are ordered to pay $750,000, partially satisfying a $4 million judgment suspended due to inability to pay. They are permanently enjoined from making false or unsubstantiated height and growth claims, and banned from making any health benefit claims without competent and reliable scientific evidence. They are also prohibited from misrepresenting reviewer identity or experience, and from purchasing reviews conditioned on particular sentiment. The order is a consent decree issued by the FTC.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor agreements with marketing agencies, social media management firms, and review platform providers to prohibit incentivized reviews, fake testimonials, and automated bot-generated content. Customer-facing advertising contracts and terms of service should include warranties that all health-related claims are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence, and that all reviews are genuine and uncompensated. Employee agreements must explicitly ban staff from writing fake reviews of company products, and contracts with third-party review platforms should require full disclosure of any review incentives and prohibit sentiment-conditioned payments.
Entity
Vanilla Chip LLC
Industry
HealthcareOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/04/ftc-takes-action-against-truheight-deceptive-unsubstantiated-advertising-supposed-height-enhancing
TruHeight Complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/TruHeight-Complaint.pdf
2423093truheightdecisionandorder
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2423093truheightdecisionandorder.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Vanilla Chip LLC, which does business as TruHeight"
"requires TruHeight and its principals to pay $750,000"
"violated the FTC Act and the agency’s Reviews and Testimonials Rule"
"April 13, 2026"
"Federal Trade Commission"
"Proposed settlement order"
$750K
The FTC finalized a settlement with Vanilla Chip LLC (doing business as TruHeight) and its principals over allegations that they deceptively advertised height-enhancing supplements for children and teenagers without competent and reliable scientific evidence. The FTC also alleged that TruHeight used fake social media bot profiles and relied on reviews written by employees, vendors, or consumers who received free products or discounts for 5-star reviews. Under the final order, TruHeight must pay $750,000 and is barred from making unsupported health claims or misrepresenting reviews.
$49.8M
The FTC and four states alleged that Progress Residential and Pretium Partners misled renters about rental prices and fees, improperly withheld security deposits, and engaged in other unlawful conduct. Under a proposed settlement, the companies will pay $49.75 million and must change their pricing, deposit, and customer-service practices.
The FTC and 22 state attorneys general filed an updated complaint alleging that Amazon secretly added surcharges to advertising auction prices and misled advertisers about the reasons for price increases. The release describes newly unredacted allegations; it does not report a judgment, settlement, or monetary penalty.
$600K
The FTC and Washington alleged that Riverside Payments and affiliates misrepresented savings and cancellation terms, concealed fees and auto-renewing contracts, and obtained consumers’ financial information using false or fraudulent statements. The proposed stipulated order requires a $600,000 payment, customer notice and a period to rescind agreements without penalty, and prohibits deceptive claims while requiring clear disclosures, informed consent for negative-option billing, and a simple cancellation method.
FTC staff announced warning letters to 25 healthcare plan marketers and lead generators about deceptive or unfair claims concerning plan benefits, coverage, costs, and enrollment incentives. The letters do not allege wrongdoing by their recipients or impose penalties; they encourage companies to review their advertisements for compliance.
The FTC summarized enforcement actions and other efforts targeting businesses and individuals allegedly impersonating government agencies or legitimate businesses. The release reports more than $80 million in consumer redress across prior actions and takedowns of 19 websites, but it does not announce a new settlement or impose a specific penalty.