FTC Guide To Trim Weight Scam Fat

Lose weight without dieting or exercise! Eat your way to a trimmer you! Block fat before your body can absorb it!

According to the government, what products using those slogans should really say is: "I lost $350 in two weeks. Ask me how!"

The Federal Trade Commission released a guide Tuesday to help consumers and the media spot deceptive weight-loss products. The goal is to prevent consumers from wasting their money and to get newspapers and broadcasters to reject advertisements.

"If the message is too good to be true, then it is probably not true. You need to diet and exercise to lose weight," Timothy Muris, the FTC chairman, said Tuesday.

Asked in a television inteview why his agency is undertaking the initiative at this time, Muris said, "There's serious problems. The problem of obesity is significant and growing, and in terms of the media in the last few years, we've seen a lot more of these ads creep into the mainstream media."

"More than half of Americans have a problem with their weight, and the quick idea of taking a pill and not having to do the hard work of diet and exercise lures a lot" of people, he said.

Product claims that should raise suspicion include: users can lose two pounds or more a week for a month without dieting or exercise; that it causes permanent weight loss even after the customer stops taking it; that it provides substantial weight loss if rubbed into the skin or worn on the body; and that everyone who uses it loses substantial weight.

"Ads for so-called miracle weight loss products are often empty promises," the FTC said in its guide. "Despite their claims, there are no easy ways to lose weight and burn off fat."

In September 2002 the FTC reported that 55 percent of weight-loss ads included claims that were almost certainly false or misleading. The agency is asking newspapers, broadcasters and cable television stations to avoid running ads for questionable products.

The FTC has brought at least 100 lawsuits since 1990 against companies accused of selling phony weight-loss products.