A couple of companies making money off of bogus weight loss claims with tea diet products were hit with hefty fines by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
A Connecticut federal judge has ordered Bronson Partners (dba New England Diet Center and Bronson Day Spa) and Martin Howard to pay $2 million to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and granted the FTC’s request to prohibit the company from continuing to sell its products. They are based in Westport, Connecticut.
The complaint against Bronson Partners and Martin Howard was part of the FTC’s Big Fat Lie campaign, that has targeted companies it believes are deceptively marketing weight loss products.
Femina, Inc., another tea-related company based in Pembroke Pines, Florida, was also targeted.
The Connecticut company charged consumers $24.95 plus shipping and handling for a green tea product called Chinese Diet Tea. Their advertisements, that ran in national publications, claimed the tea would help users lose up to six pounds a week if they drank a cup after each meal. This supposedly would “neutralize the absorption of fattening foods.” The manufacturers also sold a diet patch that contained extracts of fucus, garcinia and guarana.
“Future violations of a similar nature would surely result in financial harm to consumers, and possible physical harm if consumers engage in risky weight-loss techniques in reliance on (the) defendants’ misleading representations,” said Judge Stefan R. Underhill in his ruling.
(via: World Tea News)