Bio-Lab, a Canadian company operating in the United States, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it deceived consumers through false and unsubstantiated advertising of its 'Quick Slim Fat Blocker' and 'Cellu-Fight' products.
The company has been ordered to pay $40,000 in consumer redress, and a further $12 million if information given by them to the FTC proves to be false.
The FTC's complaint, filed in September 2002 in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, alleged that Bio-Lab and its president Jean-Francois Brochu falsely claimed that Quick Slim causes rapid and substantial weight loss, including as much as two pounds per day, without dieting or increasing exercise, and that the weight loss would be permanent.
The defendants, who sold their products on the Internet and through direct mail brochures, also claimed that Cellu-Fight is clinically proven to eliminate cellulite from the stomach, backside, hips, and thighs, said FTC.
Under the terms of the settlement, which still requires court approval, Bio-Lab is prohibited from making further false or unsubstantiated claims regarding the efficacy of any weight-loss or cellulite treatment product. The firm is also banned from making unsubstantiated claims about the health benefits, performance, efficacy, safety, or side effects of health-related products, programs, or services, including any dietary supplement, food, drug, device, or cosmetic.
The FTC is to receive thousands of pieces of consumer mail so that it can return the unfulfilled product orders, estimated to be worth more than $100,000, to consumers.
The FTC has stepped up its surveillance of weight-loss advertising in recent months as part of a joint effort with the Food and Drug Administration to stop unsupported health claims on supplements.