Hoodia Coffee Maker Settles FTC Charges

WASHINGTON—Diet Coffee Inc. and its principals, David Stocknoff and David Attarian, have agreed to settle FTC charges regarding false advertising claims that their Slim Coffee hoodia product would enable its users to lose significant amounts of weight without diet or exercise. Under the proposed settlement, the New York-based defendants are prohibited from claiming any product enables users to lose substantial weight without reducing caloric intake or increasing physical activity. The order also prohibits them from representing that any product or service causes weight loss, causes users to lose any specified amount of weight, reduces or eliminates fat, reduces or curbs appetite, or increases metabolism, or making any other health-related benefit or efficacy representation unless it is true, not misleading, and substantiated by reliable scientific evidence. In addition, the defendants are prohibited from misrepresenting the existence, contents, validity, results, conclusions or interpretations of any test or study concerning such products. A monetary penalty of $923,910 was suspended due to the defendants' inability to pay. However, if they are found to have misrepresented their ability to pay, an avalanche clause of would trigger the full judgment.

In marketing Slim Coffee, the defendants ran television ads claiming drinking Slim Coffee had been “clinically proven” to cause weight loss of “up to 5 pounds a week and up to 20 pounds a month.” The ads told consumers there was no need to change eating habits or what they eat, saying, “Just replace your coffee with Slim Coffee and you will start to see results. It’s that easy and all-natural.”

Advertisements for Slim Coffee were run on the Internet, radio and television, including on Oxygen, Fox Reality Channel, A&E Television, The CW, WE, and Bravo. Advertisements also have appeared in magazines and Sunday newspaper supplements, including SmartSource.

FTC filed a complaint in federal district court, contending the defendants’ weight-loss claims for Slim Coffee were false and unsupported by any reliable scientific studies, thereby in violation of the FTC Act. FTC also alleged neither Slim Coffee nor any of its individual ingredients, including hoodia, would enable its users to lose as much as two to five pounds per week, without reducing caloric intake or increasing physical activity.

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