Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of enforcement work on weight loss supplements. The ad was identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules.
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A paid-for Facebook ad for Inno Supps, seen on 1 February 2024, featured several supplement bottles, with the text, “2024 LINEUP FOR A NEW YEAR TRANSFORMATION” and “Burn Fat 24/7 Ease Bloating […] Trim the Waist While Sleeping”. The caption stated, "The Female Shred Stack has helped over 55,578 females burn more fat, reduce cravings, and improve athletic performance […] The Female Shred Stack contains our top selling products to help: […] Ignite the metabolism and curb cravings […] Accelerate weight loss 24/7 […] Reduce bloating”.
Additional text below the ad stated, “Beverly Hills MD Recommended To Accelerate Weight Loss […]” and included a “Learn More” button which directed to a Inno Supps product page for “FEMALE SHRED STACK”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether:
- the specific health claims featured in the ad were authorised on the Great Britain nutrition and health claims register (GB (NHC) Register) ; and
- the ad made references to a rate of weight loss, and weight or fat loss from specific parts of the body, which were prohibited by the Code.
Response
1. & 2. The Clean Supps LLC t/a Inno Supps said that they were an American-based company and had not yet filed for complete compliance in the UK. They were at the time undergoing a formal process to ensure that all claims, products and labels were up to standard in the UK. They said that the media buyer that ran the ads in question to the UK was not supposed to have done so until compliance was completed.
They had conducted a formal investigation and discovered that the campaigns were targeted “Worldwide” on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram), which resulted in the ads being served to the UK. Regarding the specific health claims featured in the ad, they said that all of the claims they made were substantiated.
They utilised patented materials to make such claims, and moving forward they would take care to ensure that any ad served to the UK was compliant with local rules.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that health claims were defined as those that stated, suggested or implied that a relationship existed between a food category, a food or one of its constituents and health, and that included food supplements. Only health claims that appeared on the list of authorised health claims (the GB (NHC) Register) could be made in ads promoting foods, and marketers must also ensure that they met the conditions of use associated with the claims in question.
The ASA considered that the claims “trim the waist while sleeping”, “burn more fat”, “burn fat 24/7”, “reduce cravings”, “ignite the metabolism”, “improve athletic performance”, “reduce bloating” and “accelerate weight loss” suggested a relationship between the Female Shred Stack supplement and beneficial health effects on specific physiological functions, and were therefore specific health claims for the purposes of the Code.
We examined whether the advertising claims corresponded to authorised claims on the GB (NHC) Register. We noted that there were no authorised claims in relation to the burning of fat, ‘ignition’ of the metabolism, reduction of cravings and reduction of bloating. Those claims were therefore in breach of the Code. There were a limited number of authorised claims relating to weight loss and specific aspects of performance during physical exercise. However, we had not seen any evidence that the claims in the ad corresponded to any of those authorised claims, or that the Female Shred Stack supplement met the conditions of use associated with any of those claims. Because the ad made specific health claims that were not authorised on the GB (NHC) Register, we concluded that it breached the Code.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 15.1, 15.1.1 (Food, food supplements and associated health or nutrition claims) and 15.7 (Food supplements and other vitamins and minerals).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not contain claims that people could lose weight or fat from specific parts of the body. It further stated that ads for foods and supplements could not refer to a rate or amount of weight loss.
The ad included the claim “trim the waist while sleeping””. We considered that consumers could understand the claim to mean that consuming the Female Shred Stack supplement could result in weight or fat loss from the waist. Because the ad included a claim that people could lose weight or fat from a specific part of the body, it breached the Code.We further considered that the claim “Accelerate weight loss 24/7”, as well as the overall impression of the ad, suggested that taking the Female Shred Stack supplement would result in fast or rapid weight loss. We considered that constituted an implied reference to a rate of weight loss, and therefore the ad also breached the Code in that regard.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 13.9 (Weight control and slimming) and 15.6 and 15.6.6 (Food, food supplements and associated health or nutrition claims).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form investigated. We told The Clean Supps LLC t/a Inno Supps to ensure any specific health claims made in their future advertising were authorised on the GB (NHC) Register and met the associated conditions of use for those claims. We also told them to ensure that when advertising supplements their ads did not contain claims that people could lose weight or fat from specific parts of the body, or refer to a rate or amount of weight loss.
