Leawood, Kan.-Specialty Fertilizer Products has declined to comment on the decision by the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus that SFP can support – to a point – claims for its NutriSphere-N product. SFP spokeswoman Melanie Acklin told Green Markets that the bureau’s rules prevent companies from commenting on findings regarding advertising claims. NAD responded to challenges to SPF’s advertising claims by competitor Agrotain International, saying it examined these claims, which appeared on packaging, on Websites, and in a blog post authored by the advertiser’s marketing director, as well as in other media. NAD says it determined that the advertiser’s field data, while containing some omissions and imperfections, still provided a reasonable basis for the claims its NutriSphere-N product inhibits nitrification and volatilization. But NAD added that the advertiser’s evidence did not provide a reasonable basis for its claim that NutriSphere-N works “all season long,” and recommended the advertiser discontinue the claim in all media in which it appears. Presently, the SPF Website site states that “NutriSphere-N manages nitrogen fertilizer – protecting it – at the molecular level. It’s good science and good environmental stewardship. And it lasts an entire growing season. That’s right. Not days, not weeks. NutriSphere-N remains in the soil to protect your nitrogen fertilizer investment for an entire growing season.”
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