Labels, claims and compliance

Supplements are regulated products, and the rules differ from country to country and from product to product. Dose prints the words, numbers and links you give it. It doesn't check them, and it gives no health, medical, legal or regulatory advice. This chapter lists the places in the theme where those rules meet your store, so you can check them with your regulator, or with a regulatory adviser, before you publish.

The facts panel's disclaimer and heading

• The default disclaimer is the United States statement for dietary supplements: "These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease." It's there as an example. If you sell elsewhere, replace it in Facts and ingredients › Supplement facts › Disclaimer with the wording your own country requires, or turn off Show the disclaimer if none is required. Do the same in any other place you've added the block, such as a Featured product.
• The heading can be Supplement Facts, Nutrition Information or your own. Use the title your printed label uses. In Australia, for example, many vitamins, minerals and herbal products are therapeutic goods regulated by the TGA, while some sports and protein products are foods under the Food Standards Code; the two have different label and advertising rules. Check which applies to each product.
• The footnotes ("Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet." and "Daily Value not established.") are US-style. Change or clear them to match your label.
• The footer's label line ("Always read the label and follow the directions for use.") is a setting in Theme settings › Footer. Some countries require wording like it in advertising; check what yours requires.

Health claims

The presets' words were written to make no health claims: a goal is the name of something a shopper is working on, an ingredient note says where an ingredient comes from or why it was chosen, and the testimonials talk about routines and convenience, not results. Keep it that way, and check every claim you add with your regulator's rules. Look closely at:

• product titles, descriptions and taglines (custom.tagline);
• goal names and goal tile counts: "Sleep" reads as a shelf label; a name that promises a result reads as a claim;
• ingredient notes, in custom.key_ingredients and in the Ingredient spotlight;
• the hero's ticks and floating cards, the fact row, the menu promos and the collection descriptions;
• FAQ answers: send health questions to a pharmacist or doctor, as the preset's "Can I take more than one product together?" does;
• testimonials: a customer's words that claim a health result become your claim when you publish them;
• blog posts and image text.

Words such as "cures", "treats", "prevents", "boosts" and "clinically proven" are claims in most countries, and some countries allow only pre-approved wording for any health benefit. When in doubt, describe the product (what's in it, how much, how to take it) rather than what it does.

Certifications, tests and logos

• The certification chips and the evidence row show text with generic icons, never a certifier's logo or a badge that imitates one. Don't add logos you aren't licensed to use.
• "Vegan", "gluten free", "non-GMO", "organic", "third-party tested" and "tested for banned substances" are claims that often have their own rules, standards or certification schemes. Show only what you can prove for each product, and for "every batch" claims, for every batch.
• Link only a real, current lab report. Replace it when a new batch is tested, and keep the Lab row note ("Tested by an independent lab") true of it.

Reviews, ratings and urgency

• The presets' testimonials and the rating beside them ("4.8 out of 5 from 3,200 reviews. Every one from a real order.") are invented. Replace them with real reviews or delete them. Made-up reviews and ratings can break consumer law.
• The stars under a product's title come only from a review app's metafields, so they show only real ratings.
• Use a countdown only for a real deadline that's the same for every shopper (chapter 3).

Subscriptions and shipping

• The "Save 15%" tag is worked out from your plan's real price, so it always matches.
• "Free shipping", "Pause, skip or cancel any time" and "Change your delivery any time" appear in the trust row, the Subscribe and save card, the announcement bar and the supply promo. They're true only when your shipping rates and your subscription app make them so (chapter 10).
• Many countries have rules about how a subscription's price, renewal and cancellation are explained. Your subscription app's checkout and account pages cover much of this, but the words on your pages are yours.