Cluster analysis of the perceived value from the use of different types of claims leads to grouping of firms based on the credence intensity of their major revenue. [...] We contribute to the health claims literature by exploring the motives underlying the use of health claims by firms in the functional food and nutraceutical sector through reference within an economics of information framework (Nelson, 1970; 1974a; 1974b; 1975; 1981; Darby and Carni, 1973; Ehrlich and Fisher, 1982). [...] The perceived impact of the ability to make health claims is argued to be related to the objective of increased sales, where the “…health. [...] More than a third of the Canadian consumers in the survey did not believe the additional health benefits from the incorporation of supplements/vitamins into milk, bread or fruit juices, or of cholesterol- reducing oils and margarine. [...] A case in point is the rapid growth in sales of herbs and botanicals in the United States after enactment of the Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994.