FTC Halts Seaweed Patch Weight-Loss Claims 29971

FTC Halts Seaweed Patch Weight-Loss Claims

WASHINGTONVarious UnitedKingdom-based defendants have settled charges with the Federal Trade Commission(FTC) for fraudulent marketing of seaweed-based weight-loss patches sold in theUnited States, after a related case was settled last year. The deal includes afine equal to $150,000 in profits made from the offending products, Hydro GelSlim Patch and Slenderstrip, in addition to an avalanche clause of $5.3 million,due if it is found the defendants misrepresented their financial status. Underterms of the agreement, the defendants will be banned from manufacturing,advertising, or selling any dietary supplement, food, drug or weight-lossproduct in the United States; they are also barred from making claims aboutother health-related products or services without support from crediblescientific evidence. The settlement further requires the defendants to provideFTC a list of consumers who purchased either of the products and prohibits theparties from disclosing their mailing lists to others, except as required bylaw.