3 Diet Firms Told to Trim Fat Claims : Consumers: As part of an industrywide crackdown, the FTC says 'hype' must be replaced by 'documented fact.'

By DENISE GELLENE

Oct. 17, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday settled charges of false advertising against three liquid diet firms in what the agency described as the first salvo in an investigative assault on the diet industry.

The FTC said Sandoz Nutrition Corp., Jason Pharmaceuticals Inc. and the National Center for Nutrition agreed to drop certain claims about the safety and effectiveness of their products to settle the charges.

“There’s little evidence that people (on liquid diets) maintain weight loss for any period of time,” Barry Cutler, director of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection, said at a press conference in Washington.

“These firms will have to replace unsubstantiated hype with documented fact,” he said.

Representatives of Minneapolis-based Sandoz Nutrition and Owings Mills, Md.-based Jason Pharmaceuticals said the settlement was in the best interests of the diet industry. A spokesman for National Center for Nutrition of Newington, Va., couldn’t be reached.

The FTC said low-calorie liquid diet programs account for $600 million of the $3 billion Americans spend on diet programs yearly. The largest firm is believed to be Sandoz Nutrition, a U.S. unit of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Sandoz Corp. Its product, Optifast, got attention after talk-show host Oprah Winfrey used it to shed 67 pounds. She has since gained back much of the weight.

The FTC’s action Wednesday was hailed as a “useful start” by Rep. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who chaired House subcommittee hearings on the diet industry last year. “I hope they are going to persist with their investigation into the heavyweights, the major household names that make up the diet industry,” he said.

Wyden said the FTC is probing “virtually every well known” maker of diet products, including over-the-counter liquid diets, diet pills and powders.

Wyden’s hearings sparked the FTC probe of the diet industry. On Wednesday, the agency confirmed that a dozen or so diet companies remained under investigation. “It is wrong to believe our investigation is over,” said Richard F. Kelly, who is leading the FTC probe. “This is just the beginning.”

The companies involved in Wednesday’s settlement market low-calorie liquid diet programs that are available only by prescription. The programs, administered by either physicians or hospitals, normally cost between $1,400 and $2,800 and last between 12 and 16 weeks.

Noting that gallstones have been associated with some low-calorie liquid diets, the FTC said that the diet firms named in Wednesday’s settlement misled consumers about the safety of their programs. While not stating that the liquid diets are unsafe, the FTC said the companies failed to disclose health risks or the need for physician monitoring in their brochures and advertisements.

The agency also said that the companies failed to back up claims that dieters kept the weight off after the programs were completed. It said, for example, that National Center for Nutrition had no proof that with “Ultrafast you get a new attitude. The weight stays off.”

The FTC says that claims about weight loss must be accompanied by the statement: “For many dieters, weight loss is temporary.”

The FTC also said that Jason Pharmaceuticals agreed to withdraw a claim that doctors using its Medifast diet program were certified, which implied that they were specialists. The company acknowledged in a statement Wednesday that doctors administering the program are not certified.

In announcing the settlement, the FTC proposed guidelines for weight-loss claims. For example, the agency defined long-term weight loss as the experience of patients two years after they completed the program.

Sandoz spokesman Steve Heyl said his firm welcomed the settlement. “The industry needs guidelines for claims.”

Unsubstantiated Claims The Federal Trade Commission settled deceptive advertising charges against three low-calorie liquid diet makers Wednesday. Here’s a sampling of claims that the FTC declared unsubstantiated:

Sandoz Nutrition’s Optifast:

“The one that’s clinically proven safe and effective.”

“You can call the Optifast program today, and have all you need to control your weight for the rest of your life.”

Jason Pharmaceutical’s Medifast:

“More than 300,000 formerly obese patients had already been helped by Medifast without one instance of serious side effects associated with their treatment.”

“You will not experience a rebound phenomenon (regain lost weight) after you attain your goal.”

National Center for Nutrition’s Ultrafast:

“Studies have shown that supplemental fasting, when medically supervised, is the quickest, safest way of losing excess body weight.”

“Weight Loss Myth No. 4: Once you lose it, you’ll gain it back. . . . with the support of the Ultrafast program, you get a new attitude. The weight stays off.”