5 August 2021, Budapest – The GVH has placed a ban on advertising the BrightWhite at-home tooth whitening kit under all brand names after its distributors continued to promote the product on a new website and under a new registration number in spite of the ban of the competent authorities. The GVH continues to warn consumers to be careful.
The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) initiated an investigation into the distributors of the BrightWhite home tooth withering system at the end of last year due to their advertising practices being misleading for consumers for multiple reasons. In addition, the records of the National Center for Public Health show the product to have been discontinued; therefore, the GVH suspects that the advertisements are creating a false impression about the legality of distributing the product, among other infringements. In February 2021, in order to prevent damage to consumers, the GVH temporarily banned the promotion of the product until the investigation was concluded.
However, the GVH has become aware that the undertakings in question continued to sell the product on a new website and under new EU product registration numbers, in spite of its sale allegedly infringing the law. It should be highlighted that the National Center for Public Health did not find the documentation of the new products appropriate either and therefore also banned their sale. The possibility of the use of the products posing a health risk cannot be excluded.
Therefore, the GVH has extended its previous decision and banned the affected undertakings from the promotion of all BrightWhite at-home tooth whitening products under any brand name or EU registration number until the proceeding of the GVH has been concluded or they have been approved for sale by the healthcare authority.
In addition, the Authority continues to warn consumers to be careful in connection with purchasing the products, the sale of which allegedly infringes the law and has been banned by the public health authority.
The official registration number of the case is: VJ/45/2020.
GVH Press Office