Spotlight: Settlement Reached Over Diet Product Claims

Three California companies have settled charges that they lacked evidence for claims that a popular dietary supplement, chromium picolinate, would help consumers lose weight, the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday. The agreement, which does not include an admission of wrongdoing, included San Diego-based Nutrition 21, the sole U.S. manufacturer of the product, and two retail distributors, Los Angeles-based Universal Merchants Inc. and Victoria Bie of La Jolla.