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MANASQUAN
Claims made for unproven diet products come under federal fire
Overweight Americans, already fighting off entreaties to try the latest jumbo burger or frozen snack, must also sort through the questionable promises made for weight-loss products. Three New Jersey marketers of dietary supplements that promised to help users slim down are among a group that this month agreed to pay a collective $25 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission that they were making unproven claims.
The FTC laid its accusations on Bayer, whose Bayer Consumer Care division in Morristown markets One-A-DayWeightSmart; Goen Technologies inWhippany and Manasquan-based RTC Research & Development of using deceptive marketing to promote dietary supplements. Out-of-state defendants were Window Rock Enterprises in Brea, Calif., the marketers of Corti-Slim diet pills, and Infinity Advertising in Concord, Calif.
Rather than face off with the feds in court, the companies-without admitting wrongdoing-took the settlement that was announced Jan. 4. This is the latest step taken by regulators who want to rein in the supplements industry, a sector whose products face little of the scrutiny undergone by drugs.
The supplements cited in the settlement are Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, One-A-Day WeightSmart and TrimSpa. Xenadrine EFX is made by Nutraquest, formerly Cytodyne Technologies of Manasquan. Cytodyne founder Robert Chinery Jr. and his current company, RTC Research & Development, were defendants in the complaints about...