SALT LAKE CITY, March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Quixtar North America has
filed a multi-count Complaint against MonaVie (Mona Vie, Inc. and MonaVie
LLC), and several MonaVie distributors for unfair competition in federal
court in Salt Lake City. The Complaint alleges that MonaVie competes
unfairly by making false claims about its products. Utah-based MonaVie
sells juice blend products featuring acai berries through a network of
distributors. Quixtar, a sister company to Amway Corporation, sells
nutritional products through its Independent Business Owners (IBOs) that
directly compete with MonaVie. Some of Quixtar's products also contain acai
berries. Quixtar's filing is intended to protect consumers from false health
claims as well as ensure its IBOs are not damaged from unfair competition
stemming from false claims. Quixtar, a respected member of the Direct
Selling Association, also hopes to protect other direct selling companies
from MonaVie's deceptive tactics.
The Complaint contains numerous examples of false health claims made by
MonaVie and its distributors. For example, the Complaint includes
transcripts of MonaVie meetings with speeches by "doctors" who falsely
claim that MonaVie can cure cancer, stop aging at a rapid pace, improve
vision, and eliminate pain. The "doctors" describe "dosages" of MonaVie to
falsely imply that it is a medicine.
In addition, MonaVie distributors have attempted to raid Quixtar IBO
organizations using these false claims.
The Complaint explains that while MonaVie has only been around only a
few years, its founder was associated with a now defunct company which
enjoyed tremendous growth by marketing a "superfood" derived from a sea
plant. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took action against the
company for unsubstantiated therapeutic claims for mitigating various
diseases. The company eventually stopped selling the product and its
remaining inventory was destroyed under FDA supervision.
