January 2007
Diet pill effective? Fat chance
Marketers of four popular diet pills have agreed to curb their advertising claims and shell out some $25 million to settle
allegations by the Federal Trade Commission that they misled consumers with promises of dramatic weight loss.
On Jan. 4 the FTC announced it had charged marketers of CortiSlim, CortiStress, One-A-Day WeightSmart, TrimSpa, and Xenadrine EFX with making false or unsubstantiated claims. Ads for Xenadrine EFX, which contains bitter orange, caffeine, green tea extract, and other ingredients, said the pill was clinically proven to cause rapid and substantial weight loss. But according to the FTC, studies commissioned by Xenadrine EFX’s manufacturer failed to demonstrate that claim--and one study showed that people lost more weight with a placebo than with Xenadrine. The FTC’s complaint also alleged that claims by the makers of CortiStress about their product’s ability to spur rapid weight loss and reduce the risk of conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease were also unsubstantiated. (For more details on the FTC’s complaint, see www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/01/weightloss.htm.)
Consumers Union has long cautioned against the use of weight-loss supplements. No diet supplement has consistently demonstrated in solid clinical trials that it can safely help you shed weight. And supplements that pair caffeine with the stimulant bitter orange, for example, can spur potentially dangerous increases in blood pressure and heart rate.
Many consumers are misinformed about weight-loss supplements. In a recent survey of 3,500 people conducted by researchers from the University of Connecticut and GlaxoSmithKline, more than 60 percent of respondents believed that diet supplements have been proved safe, and more than half believed the products had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. But diet supplements are actually categorized as nutritional supplements and are not required to be proved safe and effective before they go on the market. And they barely undergo scrutiny by the FDA once they get there.
Read more about risky supplements and subscribers, see our report on diets that work.
On Jan. 4 the FTC announced it had charged marketers of CortiSlim, CortiStress, One-A-Day WeightSmart, TrimSpa, and Xenadrine EFX with making false or unsubstantiated claims. Ads for Xenadrine EFX, which contains bitter orange, caffeine, green tea extract, and other ingredients, said the pill was clinically proven to cause rapid and substantial weight loss. But according to the FTC, studies commissioned by Xenadrine EFX’s manufacturer failed to demonstrate that claim--and one study showed that people lost more weight with a placebo than with Xenadrine. The FTC’s complaint also alleged that claims by the makers of CortiStress about their product’s ability to spur rapid weight loss and reduce the risk of conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease were also unsubstantiated. (For more details on the FTC’s complaint, see www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/01/weightloss.htm.)
Consumers Union has long cautioned against the use of weight-loss supplements. No diet supplement has consistently demonstrated in solid clinical trials that it can safely help you shed weight. And supplements that pair caffeine with the stimulant bitter orange, for example, can spur potentially dangerous increases in blood pressure and heart rate.
Many consumers are misinformed about weight-loss supplements. In a recent survey of 3,500 people conducted by researchers from the University of Connecticut and GlaxoSmithKline, more than 60 percent of respondents believed that diet supplements have been proved safe, and more than half believed the products had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. But diet supplements are actually categorized as nutritional supplements and are not required to be proved safe and effective before they go on the market. And they barely undergo scrutiny by the FDA once they get there.
Read more about risky supplements and subscribers, see our report on diets that work.
