Postal Service Puts Squeeze on Grapefruit Diet Product

U.S. Postal Service authorities are seizing all money and product orders mailed to a Carlsbad firm that markets “Grapefruit 45,” a nationally advertised weight loss product that authorities say doesn’t work.

The detention of mail for World Communications Inc., which markets Grapefruit 45 as “the fat burner pills,” was ordered Feb. 22 by U.S. Postal Service inspectors, who said the firm had violated two 1984 consent agreements that prohibited it from making claims about any orally ingested weight loss products.

Thousands of orders and remittances have so far been stopped, said federal authorities. The detained orders--worth an estimated $90,000 per day--are being held at the post office in Carlsbad.

The firm has until Monday to officially appeal the order, according to R.T. Grudek, San Diego’s postal inspector-in-charge.

While insisting that the Postal Service action “has not hurt us,” Grapefruit 45 officials concede that they are “distressed by the situation.”

“We’re vigorously disputing the post office’s allegations that we have breached our prior agreement,” according to Jeff Glickman, WCI executive vice president. “There has been outside testing on the diet plan and it has been confirmed. We feel quite confident of its advocacy.”

WCI currently is “in discussions” with federal authorities about the “interim stop mail,” Glickman said.

WCI President Jay M. Kholos was out of town Monday and unavailable for comment.

In August, WCI entered into two consent agreements with the U.S. Postal Service after federal authorities alleged that two of the firm’s products falsely promised weight loss without an accompanying diet.

The products were the “Energizer,” a diet pill containing phenyl propanolamine, an appetite suppressant found in most over-the-counter diet aids, and “Slim Wrap,” a diet package that used a skin creme in conjunction with a plastic sheet to wrap around the consumer’s waist.

The products claimed that consumers would “lose greater amounts of weight than scientific evidence shows,” according to Jim Harbin, an attorney for the Postal Service inspector’s office. “They said they wouldn’t make claims . . . so then ‘fat burner’ comes along, made from a grapefruit concentrate. This is not recognized by the Food and Drug Administration as having any appetite suppressant effect.”

Authorities said Monday that Grapefruit 45 is falsely represented, although their action was based on the consent agreement violation, not on false representation.

“Our experts have said that the pill will not cause or aid weight loss,” said Nan Kalthoff, an attorney for the Postal Service’s Consumer Protection Division in Washington.

Grapefruit 45 has been heavily advertised, particularly on independent television stations and cable networks. The ads feature “testimonials” from typical consumers who are seemingly satisfied with the product.

As part of last summer’s consent agreement, WCI pledged that it would not sell products that promised weekly weight losses of more than two pounds for women and 3 1/2 pounds for men.

The television ads have a disclaimer to that effect, Glickman insisted.

However, the “typical consumer” isn’t going to see the disclaimer, which appears briefly and in small print “late in the commercial and . . . when there’s someone speaking,” Kalthoff said.

Glickman said WCI officials were aware of the Postal Service’s investigation and have “kept them appraised of all of our activities. We’re very surprised at the action, considering how cooperative we’ve been.”

WCI employs about 200 people in its Carlsbad facility, Glickman said. In addition to the weight loss products, the firm promotes audio products and cookbooks.