Promoter of green coffee extract fined

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

A couple of years ago the hottest-selling products on the weight loss market contained green coffee extracts, the result of scientific discourse, heavy marketing and a spot or two on a popular television show. People were quick to jump onto the bandwagon.

But those same people were just as expedient when the wheels began to come loose.

Recently, the entire maelstrom, the one that threatened to spiral out of all control, has come crashing down: Dr Oz, the man who featured these supplements on his talk show, was grilled by politicians and admitted that ‘further study’ was required; Applied Food Sciences were handed a $3.5m fine for their role in a ‘botched’ study into the effects of the extract and then, late last year, the authors of the original 2012 report withdrew their work.

Now, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced they have reached a $9m settlement with Lindsey Duncan and his affiliated companies for their part in the unsubstantiated hype.

“Lindsay Duncan and his companies made millions by falsely claiming that green coffee bean supplements cause significant and rapid weight loss,” said Jessica Rich, a director of FTC’s bureau of consumer protection in a press release.

According to the report compiled by the FTC, Duncan had agreed to appear on television alongside Dr Oz and crafted a marketing campaign to coincide with the broadcast and then reaped the rewards. By leading customers with certain keywords and phrases, he drove consumers to his websites.

He also is believed to have reached out to retailers, foretelling them about the (‘slightly’ dubious) findings that would be presented on national TV.

To make matters worse, the commission alleged that Duncan and his companies funded people to endorse their product despite being portrayed as independent individuals.

Is this the final nail in the green coffee coffin? Or will more revelations about barely credible research, dubious claims and staged endorsements come to light?

At the end of last year, researchers, writing in the British Medical Journal, found that half of the recommendations made on some of the most prominent television talk shows were factually unreliable.

Proof enough that you shouldn’t believe everything that you see on TV.