The US textile and clothing retailers were placed with civil charges for their false claim that their product were made from bamboo. They have been said to mislead the customer by falsely labelling and advertising that their textile products contained bamboo, when they were in fact made from rayon.
All these retailers agreed to pay US $ 1.3 million as fine to settle the US civil charges. Federal Trade Commission accused these retailers of advertising rayon products such as dresses, socks, t-shirts, bath rugs, napkins and pillow by making fallacious claim that they contained bamboo, despite having received warning letters from the agency in 2010.
While the Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. will pay US $ 500,000, Nordstrom Inc. will pay US $ 360,000, JCPenney will pay US $ 290,000 and outdoor gear maker Backcountry.com LLC will pay US $ 150,000, as charges, informed the Federal Trade Commission. However, none of the retailers admitted the wrongdoing.
FTC said, unlike rayon, bamboo is often promoted as environment-friendly because it grows quickly and has little or no need for pesticides and even some consumers tend to pay more for products they consider good for the environment.
Also Read – FTC fines Amazon, Macy’s and Sears US $ 1.26 mn for mislabelling bamboo textiles
In a statement, Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau said, “It’s misleading to call bamboo that has been chemically processed into rayon simply ‘bamboo. With consumers in the midst of their holiday shopping, it’s important for them to know that textiles marketed as environment-friendly alternatives may not be as ‘green’ as they were led to believe.”
The retailers were accused of violating the Federal Textile Fibre Products Identification Act and related FTC rules.
