Fat Loss Supplement Scams Love The Internet

When it comes to buying fat loss supplements on the internet, it’s a big case of BUYER BEWARE! There are tons of scams out there. You’ve seen the ads. Here are some listed by the US Food and Drug Administration:

• “Eat All You Want! Block the Starch and Lose Weight”.

• “Neutralize up to 66 percent of the starch consumed in a meal”.

• “This advanced dietary-fat inhibitor helps block the absorption of fat calories”.

• “Take 3 capsules before bedtime. Watch the fat disappear!”.

• “Guaranteed to block the breakdown of carbohydrates and simple sugars from being converted into fat”.

With obesity rampant in this country, many people are looking for that quick fix and fall victim to these claims. At best these products will rip you off for a few bucks but worse than this, they can endanger your health.

“These products give unfounded hope to people who are attempting to lose weight. False and misleading claims have significant health consequences to individuals that may be overweight because these products do not produce the desired results,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Lester M. Crawford, D.V.M., Ph.D. (back in 2004). “FDA will continue to enforce the law and pursue products that lure consumers with unsubstantiated weight loss claims.”

Buying fat loss supplements is a slippery slope because manufactures of dietary supplements are pretty much responsible for policing themselves. Because dietary supplements fall under the “umbrella” of foods, the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) is responsible for the agency’s oversight of these products.

However, manufactures do not have to register themselves nor their supplements with the FDA before producing or selling them.

Currently the manufacturer is responsible for establishing its own manufacturing guidelines for product safety and product ingredients. It can be like the fox guarding the hen house. It’s up to the consumer to find a reputable company to buy safe fat loss supplements and products from.

Here’s a little experiment-contact the manufacturer of your supplements and ask where and by whom the supplements were made, what quality and purity testing were conducted and what clinical trials (if any) have been done on its products. I don’t think you’ll get much information from them.

Hopefully this situation will change because on June 22, 2007, the FDA announced its final rule which established regulations to require good manufacturing practices for dietary supplements, which includes fat loss supplements.

Manufacturers will be required to “evaluate the identity, purity, strength, and composition of their dietary supplements. If dietary supplements contain contaminants or do not contain the dietary ingredient they are represented to contain, FDA would consider those products to be adulterated or misbranded.” Will these companies be shut down if they violate this ruling? The FDA doesn’t say. Will it ultimately be business as usual for these companies?

As with most regulations, there are loopholes and several companies have already tried to weasel out of this ruling which is being phased in until 2010.

I’m not one who wants to see the government involved in the supplement industry. I’d rather see consumers become more educated and stop buying bogus products. These companies would hopefully go out of business eventually. I hope this ruling helps consumers though.

So again, with buying fat loss supplements and well as all dietary supplements, it’s BUYER BEWARE. Don’t use your body as some type of chemistry experiment. Educate yourself and only buy from reputable companies you can trust. Isn’t your health worth it?

Check out this great supplement and healthy product guide from the #1 Natural Nutrition Company in the U.S.

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