When selling an antibody test kit for the new coronavirus, it is a violation of the prize labeling law to advertise that it is possible to determine whether or not the virus is infected at the beginning of the infection. As a result, the Consumer Affairs Agency has provided administrative guidance to six distributors to prevent recurrence.
Six companies, including an internet company that sells antibody test kits for the new coronavirus, received administrative guidance.
According to the Consumer Affairs Agency, when selling a simple kit that allows you to test for antibodies yourself via the Internet, these vendors can "determine in the early stages of infection, which is difficult with PCR tests" and "positive. It was advertised as if it could be investigated whether it was currently infected, such as "suspicion of possession of virus during reaction infection".
According to the Consumer Affairs Agency, antibody tests usually look for an infection in the past, and it is not possible to determine if it is infected at the time of the test.
For this reason, the Consumer Affairs Agency has given administrative guidance to six vendors to prevent recurrence, saying that it may be a good misunderstanding of the prize labeling law.
Hiroyuki Matsukaze, senior prize and labeling investigator of the Consumer Affairs Agency, said at the press conference, "Even if the antibody test is negative, it cannot be confirmed that it is not infected. For general consumers, whether or not there is a current infection It's a problem to make the display understandable. "