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CAP Code Health & Beauty Checker

Check your copy against ASA CAP Code Section 12 before the complaint arrives.

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Questions this checker answers

What is CAP Code Section 12?

Section 12 of the CAP Code is the part of the UK non-broadcast advertising rules covering medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products. It is the section most UK clinic and aesthetics advertising is judged against. It sits alongside Section 3 on misleading advertising and Section 4 on harm and offence, and the ASA routinely applies all three to a single ad.

Sources: CAP Code, Section 12 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products) (source checked 16 Jun 2026); CAP Code, Section 3 (Misleading advertising) (source checked 16 Jun 2026); CAP Code, Section 4 (Harm and offence) (source checked 20 Jun 2026)

Can you claim a treatment cures a condition?

No. The CAP Code prohibits advertisers from claiming that a product or treatment can cure a condition, as distinct from relieving or alleviating it. The same section also stops marketers discouraging people from seeking essential medical treatment, and restricts claims about conditions for which medical supervision should be sought.

Source: CAP Code, Section 12 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products) (source checked 16 Jun 2026)

Do testimonials need evidence under the CAP Code?

Yes. Testimonials must be genuine, held on file, and — critically — they do not themselves constitute evidence for the claim being made. A real patient saying a treatment worked does not substantiate an objective efficacy claim; the advertiser still needs robust documentary evidence for the claim the testimonial implies.

Sources: CAP Code, Section 3 (Misleading advertising) (source checked 16 Jun 2026); CAP Code, Section 12 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products) (source checked 16 Jun 2026)

Can an ad be misleading even if every statement in it is true?

Yes, and this is one of the most common ways UK health and beauty ads fail. The CAP Code judges an ad on its overall impression, not sentence by sentence, so technically accurate claims can still breach the rules if the combined effect misleads. Omitting material information, or qualifying a headline claim only in small print, is treated the same way.

Source: CAP Code, Section 3 (Misleading advertising) (source checked 16 Jun 2026)

Guidance, not legal advice. No tool or review can guarantee approval by any platform or regulator.