Weight loss pills a fake
A HERBAL products company has been barred from claiming its weight-loss tablets actually help people lose the kilos.
A federal committee has ruled that advertisements for the tea-based complementary medicine Xantrax were "misleading'' when they claimed the appetite suppressant promoted weight loss.
The newspaper and online ads were "likely to arouse unrealistic and unwarranted expectations of product effectiveness,'' and must be withdrawn, said the panel which manages complaints about possible advertising breaches.
It was the 26th complaint lodged against the supplier, Cat Media, in the past three years.
Most related to Xantrax, which contains ginseng and vitamins, and its other herbal weight loss products, including Reducticarb, Fatblaster and Diuret.
La Trobe University academic Dr Ken Harvey, who made the latest complaint, said it was a double standard to ban advertising of weight-loss drug Xenical but allow complementary marketing to continue unabated.
The panel also ordered the withdrawal of some advertisements for Love and Lust nasal spray, designed to enhance sexual performance, but ruled that ads for the Blackmores eye product Macu-Vision, to maintain healthy eyes, were acceptable.
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