Scam Watch

The pitch: Helps protect against breast cancer!

The scam: A so-called natural progesterone cream from Herbs Nutrition Corp. included health claims that it could help prevent or treat various cancers, osteoporosis, hair loss, fat gain and other conditions.

The charges: Last year the Federal Trade Commission charged six marketers of alternative hormone replacement therapy products with making unsubstantiated claims in their advertisements. Herbs Nutrition, which puts out products under labels including Eternal Woman, was the last to settle.

The settlement: Under an agreement between the FTC and Herbs Nutrition, the company is required to refrain from making health claims for its products unless it can back them up with “competent and reliable scientific evidence.” It also can’t make claims that its progesterone products are effective in “mitigating, treatment, prevention or cure of any disease.” The order, which is set to be formally adopted Feb. 19 unless there are objections from outside parties, will be in effect for 20 years.