Craig Pepin-Donat
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 After an extensive investigation regarding fraudulent claims, the federal trade commission (FTC) finally levied a hefty $25 million fine against the manufacturers of four weight-loss drugs including Xenadrine, EFX CortiSlim, One-A-Day WeightSmart and TrimSpa. Manufacturers of these types of products will now have to adjust their lies to maintain their market share.
One of the most popular ingredients to hit the supplement scene is the appetite suppressant Hoodia gordonii, a cactus found in the Kalahari Desert. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 REPPED: Kevin Trudeau, author of the super popular "Natural Cures" books, has once again been sued by the federal trade commission (FTC). This time, it's not about coral calcium and cancer; it's about weight loss claims made in the marketing of his book, "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About."
According to the FTC, Trudeau's false statements include ones like this:
"I can eat whatever I want now, anything and as much as I want any time I want. No restrictions now. And the weight's not coming back. You don't gain the weight back. |
Connie Bennett, C.H.H.C. with Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D.
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 Furthermore, the consumer children's advocate group Generation Green says, in a complaint to the U.S. federal trade commission about Splenda's misleading advertising, that "following chlorination [of sugar] a further chemical process is applied using phosgene." The Centers for Disease Control website describes phosgene as "a major industrial chemical used to make plastics and pesticides," which at room temperature is a "poisonous gas." The little yellow packets also contain dextrose, a simple form of sugar, and maltodextrin, a digestible carbohydrate derived from chemically modified cornstarch. |
Craig Pepin-Donat
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| A federal trade commission crackdown found deceptive weight loss ads running "rampant" with more than half of all weight loss ads reviewed containing at least one false claim.
The reason infomercials can be so much more powerful than other forms of marketing is because of the extended amount of time they have to make a case for the product. With more time, value can be built using repetitive testimonials coupled with special savings, payment plans and gifts with purchase. |
| Deception in Weight Loss Advertising
2003 federal trade commission Report (PDF File)
"Fast Food Linked to Childhood Obesity"
CBS News, Health Watch (January 5, 2003)
FTC Advertising Guidelines on Disclaimers www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/ad-faqs.htm
FTC Information on Diet and Weight Loss
Provides various FTC publications on diets, weight loss and other consumer protection issues related to health and fitness.
"Given in, but not Completely"
Sally Squires
Washington Post (Tuesday, November 7, 2006) Discusses new study on cravings and restricting foods. |
| The federal trade commission (FTC) regulates dietary supplement advertising.4 By law, only a drug can "diagnose, mitigate, cure, prevent or treat a disease." This means that supplement manufacturers are forbidden to make these specific claims. This has done little to protect the public and more to protect the sales and profits of the pharmaceutical industry. Instead, supplement manufacturers have learned how to sidestep the law with cleverly worded product names and descriptions. |
Bill Sardi
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 Journal National Cancer Institute 92: 106, 2000]
The federal trade commission utilized machines to rate cigarettes by the amount of tar and nicotine they produced in tobacco smoke. These machines underestimated the amount of tar and nicotine actually delivered to the lungs because they didn't calculate for the deeper puffs smokers took when using reduced tar and nicotine cigarettes. Government was in on the ruse. |
Devra Davis
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 But it also turned out that smoking machines, used to measure amounts of tar and nicotine by the federal trade commission, found that cigarettes which used what was later called reconstituted tobacco looked healthier. The industry was basically recycling what had once been tobacco garbage into cigarettes, and producing smokes that looked better and had less tars. It seemed a financial and public health triumph: less costly and less potent cigarettes could be crafted. Like much of the tobacco story, it proved too good to be true. But that realization would take years to unfold. |
Craig Pepin-Donat
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| According to federal trade commission (FTC) guidelines on advertising, when the disclosure of qualifying information is necessary to prevent an ad from being deceptive, the information should be presented clearly and conspicuously so that consumers can actually notice and understand it. The following are not considered proper disclosure: A fine-print disclosure at the bottom of a print ad, a disclaimer buried in a body of text unrelated to the claim being qualified, a brief video superscript in a television ad or a disclaimer that is easily missed on a Web site. |
Ann N. Martin
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 I approached the federal trade commission (FTC) in the United States, and Industry Canada requesting that they investigate the advertising undertaken by pet food companies. I have also requested that the labeling of these pet foods show the exact ingredients contained in the product, including road kill, condemned material from slaughterhouses, and euthanized dogs and cats.
Both government bodies have basically advised me that the pet food industry is self-regulated and therefore they have no input. |
Michael J. Panzner
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 The Web sites of government watchdogs like the federal trade commission, at http://ftc.gov, as well as various state attorneys general and consumer protection agencies, occasionally provide information about individuals, firms, and industries that have run afoul of the law. Also deserving a mention are consumer protection Web sites, such as http://consumeraction.gov, www.lookstoogood tobetrue.com, www.nclnet.org, and http://bbb.org. At www.epls.gov, there is a list of individuals and firms that have had problems in their dealings with the U.S. |
Ann N. Martin
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| As a part of the sale, Nestle agreed with the federal trade commission (FTC) stipulation to sell Meow Mix and Alley Cat, (two dry foods made by Purina) to the Boston-based investment firm J.W Childs Equity Partners 11 L.P, which owns the pet supply company Hartz Mountain.5
"Ralston's share of the dry cat food market across all channels of distribution is approximately 34%," noted the FTC. "Nestle has a market share of approximately 11% of the dry cat food market across all channels of distribution.... |
Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey
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 Advocacy and public health groups are also calling on the federal trade commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and Congress to work together with industry to develop a new set of rules governing the marketing of food and beverages to children—rules that take into account the full spectrum of advertising and marketing practices across all media and apply to all children, including adolescents [210]. Marketing efforts need to serve the health of children rather than undermine health [210].
C. |
Kevin Trudeau
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 This way I am no longer under potential attack from the Food and Drug Administration, and I am no longer under potential attack from the federal trade commission. I will not sell any products anywhere in the world. Not only that, but I will not accept any conflicting advertising for my newsletter or my websites, www. naturalcures.com, www.thewhistleblower.com, and www.kevinfights back.com. This way you can be assured and guaranteed that the information I am giving is unbiased and there are no conflicts of interest. |
Greg Critser
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 Lewis Engman, Richard Nixon's 1973 appointee as chairman of the powerful federal trade commission (FTC), was one of the few. A Midwesterner with traditional Republican inclinations, Engman had "the gift," as one friend later put it — people simply wanted to be around him. He was a handsome man, with a broad brow and piercing dark eyes, and he was a social creature, stylishly dressed and coiffed and noticeable on the D.C. cocktail circuit, where he could be seen in the company of many of the president's closest advisers. |
T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II
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 As I noted at the beginning of the chapter, I spent over three years during the early history of the nutrient supplement business developing testimony for the federal trade commission and the National Academy of Sciences in their court case against General Nutrition, Inc. I argued that specific health benefits for chronic diseases could not be claimed for isolated vitamins and minerals in supplement form. For this, I took a lot of heat from my colleagues who believed otherwise. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Australia and Canada are now starting to work together, and the American federal trade commission and their equivalents in other countries now have sort of direct informal liaisons, so if they need to subpoena something, they know who to call up and say, "What kind of documentation do you need so you can get these records?"
Beyond that, there are the little countries -- like a guy from Syria who was extremely eloquent. Whereas in the old days, the little countries said, "No, no, spam puts us on a level playing field," now the little countries say, "Spam is awful. Spam is terrible. |
Kevin Trudeau
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| With virtually zero customer complaints, the federal trade commission was ordered to put Shanahan out of business. They then used their unlimited resources to conduct a secret investigation into Shanahan. They coordinated these secret investigations with the news media. Shanahan was never contacted, interviewed, or questioned. If he was, the government would have found him to be cooperative in every way, as his only mission was to help children read. |
T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II
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| So the federal trade commission went to court to bar the company from making these claims. It was a battle that lasted years, a battle that was rumored to cost General Nutrition, Inc. about $7 million. The National Academy of Sciences recommended me as their expert witness because of my co-authorship of the report in question and because of my harping on this point during our committee deliberations.
A research associate in my group, Dr. Tom O'Connor, and I spent three intellectually stimulating years working on this project, including my three full days on the witness stand. |
Kevin Trudeau
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| It is interesting to note that the federal trade commission, in one of their letters to me, had the arrogance to state that I could not title my books the way I want to. The FTC has stated in their letters to me that the title of the book claims that the book will do something; therefore, I could not title my books the way I want. They claim that any book with the words "how to" in the title would be making an efficacy claim. Therefore, I could not sell a book entitled how to do anything. |
| When I pointed out to the FTC that the vice president of the United States had purchased one of my products and wrote me a letter saying how much he loved it, as well as a federal judge who did the same thing, they pointed out that the people who buy my products, including the vice president and this federal judge, were too stupid to know that they were ripped off.
The federal trade commission also coordinates with the news media to produce negative stories about me. There is obviously a campaign in Washington that is politically motivated. |
Michele Simon
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 The corporation's self-congratulatory take on its product makeovers was clear at a 2005 federal trade commission meeting on food marketing and childhood obesity. Here Kendall Powell, a General Mills vice president, spoke glowingly of the nutritional advantages afforded by the revamped products: "Obesity," he said, "is about calories and cereal is a low-calorie way to start the day."3 Of course good nutrition isn't only about calories; it's also about the actual nutrients (or lack thereof) in the food.
Apparently, no cereal is too absurd for General Mills to label "whole grain. |
| The FCC has jurisdiction over broadcasting and the federal trade commission (FTC) is responsible for monitoring advertising. In the 1970s the FCC banned "host selling"—the embedding of commercials in children's programming. While this rule is still in effect today, it's hardly a formidable threat to advertisers, who can easily target young viewers of TV programs intended for adults. The most commonly cited example is Coca-Cola's product placement on American Idol, watched by millions of young children. |
| Rack Up Another PR Coup for Big Food
One of the sorriest and most depressing events I attended in my entire ten years of covering nutrition policy debates was in July 2005 when the federal trade commission (FTC) and HHS cosponsored a workshop called "Marketing, Self-Regulation, and Childhood Obesity." You might think that when the federal government convenes a meeting on how companies market food to kids, talk of how to regulate industry practices might actually be on the agenda. But you'd be wrong. |
Mike Adams
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 What we have in the United States today is clearly a monopoly market: enforced by the FDA, applauded by drug companies, and ignored by the federal trade commission and the Department of Justice. It's curious how the FTC is always ready to attack some vitamin company or mail order business over a few million dollars in nutritional supplements, but when Big Pharma defrauds the entire nation of billions of dollars, the scam is entirely ignored by law enforcement. |
Paula Begoun
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 In 2003, marketers of Copa Hair System agreed to settle a federal trade commission (FTC) charge of unsubstantiated claims by paying $100,000 in civil penalties and $200,000 in consumer redress (Source: www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/08/goodtimes.htm).
"The FTC alleged that Copa was falsely marketed as having unique hair-strengthening properties. Its active ingredient, however, according to the FTC, may weaken hair while it straightens it. Further, through the use of before and after pictures, the defendants allegedly implied that consumers would experience hair straightening with just one use. |
Kevin Trudeau
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| I am a person who has been targeted by the federal trade commission. How do I know this to be true? Well, let's look specifically at the facts again. There are virtually no customer complaints, there are no massive refunds, and there are virtually no angry customers anywhere. In my industry, I have the highest customer satisfaction rate of virtually anyone. I have the highest repeat buy rate of virtually anyone. Customers love me and love my products. Virtually no one feels ripped off, virtually no one feels misled, and anyone who ever wanted a refund got a refund at any time. |
Paula Begoun
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| The United States federal trade commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have similarities and differences in their regulations concerning cosmetics. Neither the FDA nor the FTC have efficacy or safety requirements of any kind for hair-care products or cosmetics, they merely rely on the information provided by the cosmetics or hair-care company. |
Kevin Trudeau
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| I watched government agencies around the world, including the ITC in Great Britian, the Department of Fair Trading in Australia, and the federal trade commission and Food and Drug Administration in America, as well as hundreds of other local government agencies, routinely attack and persecute individual citizens and companies for doing nothing more than exposing people to truthful information and opinions about natural inexpensive ways to treat, prevent, and cure disease. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Until the federal trade commission steps in and begins to really crack down on the con artists who currently dominate much of the marketing and advertising in the hoodia industry, American consumers are going to continue to be victimized.
The bottom line is that genuine hoodia, if you can find it, seems to help as an appetite suppressant and at the very least holds promise for future research into weight loss supplements. But beware, because if you're buying hoodia retail or even from honest-looking companies online, you're probably not getting genuine hoodia. |
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