Judge Requires Proof for Weight-Loss Ads
A Costa Mesa company that operates diet stores in Van Nuys, Tarzana, Granada Hills and Burbank has been barred from advertising weight-loss products without also providing scientific or medical proof of their effectiveness.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Joe Hadden issued a preliminary injunction Thursday against Health Energetic Co. after the district attorney alleged that the company engaged in false and misleading advertising.
Hadden’s decision cited newspaper advertisements for the company’s Fast-Trim weight-loss program, which claimed the diet plan could help consumers lose six pounds in two days and 12 pounds in a week.
“This ad is aimed squarely at the navel of a pudgy public who would grab at any straw to lose weight,” Hadden said in the eight-page decision. “No substantiation for weight loss approaching that magnitude is supplied by Health Energetic Co.”
Hadden warned Health Energetic that, if it is to make such claims in advertising, it must also make available to the public scientific or medical evidence supporting them.
The lawsuit, which has not yet been scheduled for trial, seeks $25 million in civil penalties against Health Energetic Co., according to Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Brungard.
Officials of Health Energetic could not be reached for comment.
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