Undoit undone by TGACRP
July 4, 2012
THE Therapeutic Goods
Complaints Resolution Panel has
ordered the withdrawal of ads for a
product called Undoit, which claims
to allow people to snack on “fatladen,
carb-dense snacks” without
gaining weight.
Dr Ken Harvey lodged a formal
complaint about Undoit Plus (ARTG
197065) which is sponsored by a
company called Undoit.com.au Pty
Ltd based in Warriewood, NSW.
Initially Harvey complained in Feb
about the promotion of an identical
product, which had its listing
cancelled by the sponsor in May,
leading to the suspension of a TGA
post-marketing review.
However the same month Undoit
Plus was listed - with an identical
formulation but a different ARTG
number.
Each pill is claimed to ‘undo’ 10g
of fat and 210g of carbohydrates,
with the product website touting a
“dosing store” with examples such
as “Chocolate mudcake - large slice
(2 pills)” while “a Big Mac and fries
Undoit undone by TGACRP
will need three pills”.
When the TGACRP attempted to
investigate the matter, initially the
sponsor responded by saying that
the product “has not been
manufactured yet...it exists only as
a listing and there is nothing upon
which a complaint can be based”.
Further discussions saw the
sponsor saying that Harvey was
imputing claims that the product
causes weight loss, whereas the
Undoit website was instead saying
it “prevents weight gain”.
The Panel decided that this was
not a meaningful difference.
Reviewing evidence presented by
the parties, the Panel said that
while there was some possibility
that the chitosan ingredient could
help reduce absorption, there was
“no clear evidence, other than a
simple extrapolation made by the
advertiser, to support the specific
numeric claims in the
advertisement such as ‘each pill
undoes 210g of carbs’”.
The Panel concluded that the
advertisement “contained many
representations that had not been
verified, were not correct and
balanced, were likely to arouse
unwarranted and unrealistic
expectations, and were misleading”.
The company was ordered to
remove the advertisements and
any such representations, as well as
to arrange for the publication of
retractions on the front page of the
website within 14 days of 29 Jun.
The sponsor hasn’t managed to
do this yet, with the undoit.com.au
website still promoting the product.
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