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FTC Releases
Guidance to Media on False Weight-Loss Claims
Staff
Report on Weight-Loss Advertising Workshop Made Available
The staff of the
Federal Trade Commission today announced its “Red Flag” education
campaign to assist media outlets voluntarily to screen out
weight-loss product ads containing claims that are too good to be
true. The announcement is the culmination of a workshop held on
November 19, 2002, and meetings with trade associations and
individual media outlets over the last year. To support the
voluntary initiative, the FTC released a media reference guide
entitled “Red Flag: Bogus Weight Loss Claims.”
“Unfortunately,
there are way too many ads for scientifically impossible weight-loss
products in the popular media,” said FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris.
“The media should institute screening programs to ‘red flag’
deceitful weight-loss ads and refuse to run them. To help media
advertising staff identify bogus claims, we’re providing thousands
of free copies of the ‘Red Flag’ booklet.”
The media reference guide builds upon the FTC’s staff report,
“Deception in Weight-Loss Advertising Workshop: Seizing
Opportunities and Building Partnerships to Stop Weight-Loss Fraud,”
also released today. The staff report provides an overview and
analysis of the workshop discussion and relevant public comments.
Background –
2002 Weight Loss Product Advertising Workshop
In September 2002,
the FTC staff issued a report on weight-loss advertising that
concluded that, despite vigorous FTC law enforcement and consumer
education efforts, fraudulent and misleading weight-loss advertising
was widespread and on the rise. Following up on that report, in an
effort to identify alternative approaches to curbing weight-loss
fraud, the FTC held a public workshop on deception in
weight-loss product advertising on November 19, 2002. The goal of
the workshop was to explore new approaches to stop false weight-loss
advertising. Participants in the workshop included, among others,
scientists with expertise in the study and treatment of overweight
individuals and obesity, weight-loss industry members, and media
representatives. The workshop consisted of three panels. The first
panel considered whether certain weight-loss claims, such as claims
that promote substantial weight loss without reducing caloric intake
or increasing exercise, are feasible. The second panel considered
ways to improve industry self-regulation of weight-loss advertising.
The final panel focused on the feasibility and challenges of ad
screening.
The Report
The FTC staff report
issued today summarizes the proceedings of the November 2002
weight-loss advertising workshop and the pre- and post-workshop
public comments, provides an analysis of the scientific feasibility
of the eight weight-loss claims considered during the workshop, and
offers recommendations for future action.
The staff report
concludes that the claims are not scientifically feasible at the
current time for nonprescription drugs, dietary supplements, creams,
wraps, devices, and patches, and that further guidance would assist
the media in screening out these bogus claims. As a result, to
assist in media screening, the FTC produced the reference guide
released today. The reference guide is designed so that media
outlets can screen out weight-loss ads through simple facial review,
rather than in-depth investigation.
Cont.
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