Tuesday, September 30, 2008

A Citizen's Petition to Ban Weight Loss Supplement Claims


You've all seen them. They line the shelves of even reputable pharmacies (guess the owners care more about dollars than providing quality care) - the umpteen miracle pills, potions and lotions that promise to cause your body to disobey the laws of thermodynamics and lose weight with no effort.

Unfortunately the FDA and its Canadian counterpart have done virtually nothing to reign in these ridiculous products.

Well at least in the States perhaps there's change in the air as the American Dietetic Association, the Obesity Society, Shaping America's Health and GlaxoSmithKline have all teamed up and submitted a, "Citizen's Petition" to the FDA to determine that dietary supplements claiming to in any way shape or form assist in weight loss, be subject to the same rules and regulations that govern disease claims on supplements.

The petition would therefore apply to the usual suspects, "fat-burning", "cellulite reduction", "increases metabolism", "reduces appetite", "increases satiety", and "blocks absorption" of dietary carbohydrate or fat.

It would require the nutraceutical companies, before being allowed to print their over-the-top ludicrous labels, to in fact provide scientific evidence as to the safety and efficacy of their products.

While I'm not holding my breath, I am willing to keep my fingers crossed (proverbially of course - after all I'm Jewish and it's almost Yom Kippur).

As the video below extols, "Don't Buy the Lie"