South Korean regulators have caught companies that advertised ordinary foods as effective against benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and tinnitus, using videos featuring celebrities and artificial intelligence-generated images. The companies promoted general foods as if they could prevent or treat diseases, or as if they were health functional foods.
The Emergency Response Team for Unfair Food Practices under the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) said Tuesday it had caught 11 companies that violated the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods following an intensive review of online advertisements for foods related to BPPV and tinnitus, areas of growing consumer interest. The team requested administrative measures from the relevant authorities and filed criminal complaints. The companies sold a combined total of more than 520,000 food products worth 19.2 billion won.
The MFDS intensively reviewed online advertisements for related products as consumer interest in BPPV and tinnitus has grown recently. BPPV is a dizziness disorder caused when otoliths in the vestibular organ of the inner ear become dislodged from their original position. Tinnitus is a condition in which sounds are heard within the ear or head even when there is no external sound. According to statistics from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of BPPV patients steadily increased over 13 years, from about 230,000 in 2010 to about 480,000 in 2023.
The review targeted foods sold on online shopping malls, social networking services (SNS), and YouTube that were advertised as helping to improve or manage symptoms such as BPPV, tinnitus, hearing loss, and dizziness. One company emphasized terms such as "tinnitus circuit blocker," "tinnitus blocking supplement," and "auditory nerve protection" through videos featuring celebrities, misleading consumers.
Another company used AI-generated images of human tissue to depict the process of improving BPPV and tinnitus symptoms, advertising the food as if it had therapeutic effects.
"BPPV and tinnitus are conditions that require medical diagnosis and treatment," an MFDS official said. "There are no foods or health functional foods recognized as effective in preventing or treating them." The official added, "If you have or suspect BPPV or tinnitus, you should visit a medical institution and receive appropriate treatment."
