Weight Loss Scam – Don’t be a Victim

It is hard to open a paper or turn on the television with out being bombarded with promises of miracle weight loss cures. While Obesity has grabbed the media’s focus, con artists are trying to grab your wallet. Don’t be a victim. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Think this is a big problem? So, does the Federal Trade Commission –

According to FTC, “misleading weight loss advertising is everywhere, preying on consumers desperate for an easy solution. But claims for diet products that promise weight loss without sacrifice or effort are bogus and, in some cases, dangerous.”

The FTC warning is aimed at nonprescription diet products, “including nonprescription drugs, dietary supplements, skin patches, creams, wraps, earrings or other products that are worn on the body or rubbed on the skin.”

The warning is not aimed at claims made for other diet products and services “such as prescription drugs, meal replacement products, low calorie foods, surgery, hypnosis, special diets or exercise equipment.” http://www.ftc.gov/

It is always sound advice to consult with your physician before trying any weight loss product. It is important to know if there are any drug interaction concerns with medications you may be taking or how it might impact your health in general.

Consumers Beware -

According to the FTC, scams to watch out for include:

• Claim: Lose two pounds or more per week without dieting or exercise.

Reality Check: Meaningful weight loss requires consuming fewer calories and/or increasing exercise. Ads that promise substantial weight loss without diet or exercise are false.

• Claim: Weight loss will be substantial no matter what or how much the user eats.

Reality Check: It is impossible to eat unlimited amounts of food and still lose weight. Some products may help curb appetite or cravings, but you won’t be eating unlimited amounts of food, will you?

• Claim: Weight loss will be permanent (even when the user stops using the product).

Reality Check: Without permanent lifestyle changes (eating less food and/or doing more exercise), weight loss does not last once product use stops.

• Claim: Block the absorption of fat or calories, and lose substantial weight.

Reality Check: No fat blocker alone can block enough fat or calories to cause major weight loss. Even legitimate fat blockers must be used with a reduced calorie diet to work.

• Claim: Safely lose more than three pounds per week for a period of more than four weeks.

Reality Check: Losing more than three pounds per week over multiple weeks can result in gallstones and other health complications, so that claim is false. If the claim is that no dieting is required, it is false for that reason as well.

• Claim: Diet patches, creams, wraps, earrings and other products worn on the body or rubbed into the skin cause substantial weight loss.

Reality Check: These products do not cause substantial weight loss. A claim that people can lose even a pound or more a week using one of these devices is false.

FDA Hard at Work –

According to the FDA’s April 19, 2004 press release - “In the last 6 months, FDA has inspected 180 domestic dietary supplement manufacturers; sent 119 warning letters to dietary supplement distributors; refused entry to 1,171 foreign shipments of dietary supplements; and seized or supervised voluntary destruction of almost $18 million worth of mislabeled or adulterated products.

In March FDA requested that 23 companies cease distributing dietary supplements containing androstenedione, which are marketed to stimulate testosterone and muscle growth but have anabolic steroid effects in the body.

A recent Institute of Medicine report, sponsored by FDA, estimated that American consumers spend $18 billion annually on dietary supplements and that there are about 29,000 such products on the market, with another 1,000 new products introduced each year.” http://www.fda.gov/

Buyer Beware

The best defense is to be an informed consumer. Read the fine print. Often, disclaimers such as “not typical of actual results” may be hidden in the there. Do a little homework on the Internet at sites such as http://www.dietfraud.com/. Use common sense, if they tell claim you can eat unlimited amounts of any kind of food you want and still lose weight, does that seem realistic?

Remember, if the claim seems too good to be true, it probably is.