Food & Beverages

The press advertisement which was accompanied by the Thérapie Clinic logo referred to the following:
“Exclusive to Thérapie Clinic – New
World’s No. 1 Slimming Tea
Benefits for Men & Women
 Lose weight from the first week
 Natural Ingredients
 Boost energy levels …”
A representative from Thérapie Clinic commenting on the arrival of the product commented as follows:
“…The great thing about Yo Tea is it’s 100% natural, and has been proven to be effective in aiding weight loss and detox in a (sic) easy safe way.”
The feature continued as follows:
“The blend contains Lotus Leaf. Oolong green tea and number of other ancient Chinese herbs, all of which have been specially selected because of their proven natural ability to purify and cleanse the body, and to essentially act as a nuisance in stopping the body from storing up food as excess weight, and burn excess fat which is stored in the body…”

The complainant queried the claim that the properties in the tea had “proven natural ability to purify and cleanse the body, and to essentially act as a nuisance in stopping the body from storing up food as excess weight, and burn excess fat which is stored in the body.” He said the advertisement provided no substantiation for the claim and he queried the availability of proof for such claims.

The advertisers did not respond to the complaint.

Complaint upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and expressed their concern at the advertisers’ failure to respond to the complaint. The Committee noted that this was not the first time that the advertisers had failed to provide a response to a complaint and reminded them that there is an onus on advertisers to ensure that their advertising is in conformity with the Code.
In the absence of a response from the advertisers, the Committee concluded that the relevant substantiation had not been provided for the claims made in the advertisement and in the circumstances upheld the complaint under Sections 3.10, 3.31, 4.1, 4.4 , 12.1, 12.3 and 12.12 of the Code.

The Committee requested that the media concerned be provided with a copy of the final adjudication. The advertisement should not be used in the same format again without relevant substantiation for the claims made.