Airborne settles FTC charges of false advertising

The makers of Airborne tablets have agreed to pay $30 million to settle a lawsuit and federal regulators’ charges that they made false claims about the cold-fighting benefits of the fruit-flavored remedies.

The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that there was no evidence that products from Bonita Springs, Fla.-based Airborne Health Inc. “provide any tangible benefit for people who are exposed to germs in crowded places.”

The company, founded by Victoria Knight-McDowell and Thomas John McDowell, markets a line of tablets that dissolve in water that are sold in pharmacies and grocery stores nationwide.

Airborne’s chief executive said the FTC charges dealt with advertising and labeling that the company no longer used.

The FTC action adds $6.5 million to a previous class-action settlement in which Airborne agreed to pay $23.5 million in customer refunds and attorney fees.

That agreement is pending approval in federal court in California.