It is illegal to make a drug claim not allowed by the Food and Drug Administration for any ingredient, food supplement, or nonprescription drug. A drug claim is any claim that the product will alter body processes, such as suppress appetite, speed up metabolism, or block digestion. Claims ingredients will surround calories, starch, carbohydrate or fat and remove them from the body are illegal drug claims. Encourages reliance on a guru figure who has the ultimate answers or secrets unknown by others. Grants mystical properties to certain foods or ingredients.
Bases plan on faddish ideas, such as food allergies, forbidden foods or magic combinations of foods.
Declares that the established medical community is against this discovery and refuses to accept its miraculous benefits. Method of delivery 21. Distributed through hard-sell mail order advertisements, television informericals, or ads which list an 800 number without address, indicating possible Postal Service action against the company. Demands large advance payments or long-term contracts. The products listed above are sometimes combined into costly programs involving herbal pills, cellulite creams, body wraps, the quack concept of detoxifying the body, and liberal doses of mystique to overwhelm the vulnerable client.