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The OCU's Kilos de Mentiras ('Kilos of Lies') campaign says many dietary supplements, slimming pills and foodstuffs promising to cause or speed up weight loss make false claims on their labels and in publicity – it is illegal to advertise 'health results', the organisation says, and yet many do so.
'Health results' are, in this case, claims such as 'reduces weight', 'helps control weight' or 'for a flat stomach'.
In addition to the 23 products which breach advertising rules, the OCU has visited 80 pharmacies, parapharmacies, plus fitness, health and herb shops, and slimming centres.
It says 'certain establishments' advertise 'diagnostic techniques or treatment' which have no evidence of any success.
One of these is the famous 'imaginary gastric band', in which customers are hypnotised to believe they have had a stomach reduction and think they are full long before they really are, leading to their eating less.
Other than 12 pharmacies of a total of 28, and one fitness centre, all the other 80 premises failed their inspection – staff had no identification, meaning it was not possible to check what qualifications or training they held and, despite the fact that none of the confederates who posed as customers actually needed to lose weight, fewer than half the establishments commented on this.
In four of the establishments, confederates of a healthy size were directly recommended slimming products.
The OCU has named the 23 products it found which are either in breach of advertising regulations, have no evidence to support their claims, or are nutritionally dubious.
These are 2WD, Aspolvit, B.Slim, Café Verde (green coffee), Café Verde Lipomodelador, Captalip, Carni Lean, Delicaslim, Dietabelt Reduexpress, Dren Green, Drenabeplus, Drenalight Hot, Drenat Plus, E'Lifexir, Fat Burner Plus, Garcinia Cambogia Plus, Lipo Less, OB3, Quema Rapid, Quema, Quema Fort, Slank Burner and Termolip.
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