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Drink Dr Red Spearole Tea, says the publicity, and just "3 cups a day help the pounds melt away"!
(Image credit)Xynergy Health Products describe themselves as the product's UK distributors. Their flyer (available here) proudly boasts of the clinical research that's been conducted on this miracle weight-loss product.
"Dr Red Spearole Tea is...believed to reduce blood pressure and help the body process sugar. In tests, Spearole Tea shows a remarkable capacity to inhibit fat. Just three cups a day could be part of your weight management regime..."
Intrigued, I rushed off to look for the research.
...and found nothing. Nothing, that is, except for an article in the Daily Mail, which said:
"Dr Brown, a pharmacologist at Brisbane's Queensland University, studied the effect of the tea on the health of a group of rats..."
That's rather unfortunate, because the UK advertising regulations insist that
"Any claim made for the effectiveness or action of a weight-reduction method or product must be backed, if applicable, by rigorous trials on people..."
ASA complaint follows!
"I write to complain about a flyer I picked up at the CamExpo exhibition in London on 24th October this year.
The flyer, for Xynergy Health Products, promotes "dr red SPEAROLE TEA", a weight-loss product.
I suspect that the flyer may be in breach of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code). I can provide the original flyer by post, if necessary.
1. The front side of the flyer contains the text:
"dr red SPEAROLE TEA - 3 cups a day helps the pounds melt away..."
2. The text continues:
"Dr Red Spearole Tea is...believed to reduce blood pressure and help the body process sugar. In tests, Spearole Tea shows a remarkable capacity to inhibit fat. Just three cups a day could be part of your weight management regime. What's more, the antioxidant-rich ingredients also appear to work together to block inflammation. Biochemist and Spearole creator, Greg Jardine says: 'High calorie meals trigger inflammation. Evidence now suggests that anti-inflammatory foods deliver long term and sustainable benefits.'..."
3. It is not easy to find information about these "tests". A search in PubMed produced no results and the manufacturer's website [1] does not link to any research.
4. However, there are a number of articles in the media describing the "tests", which all seem to be based on the same press release. For example, a Daily Mail article [2] reads:
"Dr Brown, a pharmacologist at Brisbane's Queensland University, studied the effect of the tea on the health of a group of rats..."
5. Section 13.1 of the CAP Code says:
"Any claim made for the effectiveness or action of a weight-reduction method or product must be backed, if applicable, by rigorous trials on people..."
6. Therefore, under Section 13.1 of the Code, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate any of the following claims, and under Section 3.1 I challenge whether they are misleading:
(i) "3 cups a day helps the pounds melt away..."
(ii) The product "reduce[s] blood pressure and help[s] the body process sugar"
(iii) "In tests, Spearole Tea shows a remarkable capacity to inhibit fat"
(iv) The product's "antioxidant-rich ingredients also appear to work together to block inflammation"
7. I confirm I have no connections with the advertiser. I confirm I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser.
Footnotes:
[1] http://www.drred.com.au/?p=spearoletea
[2] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1087134/How-cups-green-tea-day-help-lose-weight--eating-junk-food.html
"
"Dr Red Spearole Tea is...believed to reduce blood pressure and help the body process sugar. In tests, Spearole Tea shows a remarkable capacity to inhibit fat. Just three cups a day could be part of your weight management regime..."
Intrigued, I rushed off to look for the research.
...and found nothing. Nothing, that is, except for an article in the Daily Mail, which said:
"Dr Brown, a pharmacologist at Brisbane's Queensland University, studied the effect of the tea on the health of a group of rats..."
That's rather unfortunate, because the UK advertising regulations insist that
"Any claim made for the effectiveness or action of a weight-reduction method or product must be backed, if applicable, by rigorous trials on people..."
ASA complaint follows!
"I write to complain about a flyer I picked up at the CamExpo exhibition in London on 24th October this year.
The flyer, for Xynergy Health Products, promotes "dr red SPEAROLE TEA", a weight-loss product.
I suspect that the flyer may be in breach of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code). I can provide the original flyer by post, if necessary.
1. The front side of the flyer contains the text:
"dr red SPEAROLE TEA - 3 cups a day helps the pounds melt away..."
2. The text continues:
"Dr Red Spearole Tea is...believed to reduce blood pressure and help the body process sugar. In tests, Spearole Tea shows a remarkable capacity to inhibit fat. Just three cups a day could be part of your weight management regime. What's more, the antioxidant-rich ingredients also appear to work together to block inflammation. Biochemist and Spearole creator, Greg Jardine says: 'High calorie meals trigger inflammation. Evidence now suggests that anti-inflammatory foods deliver long term and sustainable benefits.'..."
3. It is not easy to find information about these "tests". A search in PubMed produced no results and the manufacturer's website [1] does not link to any research.
4. However, there are a number of articles in the media describing the "tests", which all seem to be based on the same press release. For example, a Daily Mail article [2] reads:
"Dr Brown, a pharmacologist at Brisbane's Queensland University, studied the effect of the tea on the health of a group of rats..."
5. Section 13.1 of the CAP Code says:
"Any claim made for the effectiveness or action of a weight-reduction method or product must be backed, if applicable, by rigorous trials on people..."
6. Therefore, under Section 13.1 of the Code, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate any of the following claims, and under Section 3.1 I challenge whether they are misleading:
(i) "3 cups a day helps the pounds melt away..."
(ii) The product "reduce[s] blood pressure and help[s] the body process sugar"
(iii) "In tests, Spearole Tea shows a remarkable capacity to inhibit fat"
(iv) The product's "antioxidant-rich ingredients also appear to work together to block inflammation"
7. I confirm I have no connections with the advertiser. I confirm I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser.
Footnotes:
[1] http://www.drred.com.au/?p=spearoletea
[2] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1087134/How-cups-green-tea-day-help-lose-weight--eating-junk-food.html
"
Maybe make these links nofollow because not adding it is like giving these companies a vote in google so they get higher in the search engines. Info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nofollow
ReplyDeleteGreat blog :)