May 08, 2002 02:52:15 PM PST, Reuters

Federal regulators are taking a "firm stand" against products promising consumers weight loss and 'washboard abs' with the touch of a button and without exercise.
In a move they've dubbed "Project Absurd," Federal Trade Commission (FTC) officials announced that they have sued the marketers of three popular belts that promise weight loss and "six-pack abs" through direct electrical stimulation of muscles. The belts, with names like Fast Abs, Ab Tronic, and AB Energizer have been sold to millions of consumers with "false and misleading" claims, officials said.

All of the belts have been the subject of hundreds of hours of late-night infomercials and shorter 1- and 2-minute television advertisements. One of the ads for Fast Abs promises consumers they will "lose 4 inches in 30 days, guaranteed" and that 10 minutes using the product "equals 600 sit-ups." Another for AB Energizer guarantees users will go from "flab to rock hard abs," according to FTC's lawsuits.

"Would that they were true. But they're not," FTC Commissioner Timothy J. Muris told reporters. "They won't cause weight loss, fat loss, inch loss, or get rid of cellulite," he said.

Officials estimated that the makers of the three products have sold $100 million worth of the $40 to $120 belts to several million consumers. Their suits, filed in federal court Tuesday, seek to stop the television, print and Internet advertisements and also to secure refunds for people who bought the belts.

Still, health officials stressed that muscle stimulation devices are not totally without merit. The US Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) (FDA) has approved a handful of similar devices because of scientific proof that they can improve the efficiency of muscle contractions. The products, sold over-the-counter or with a prescription, are sometimes used by athletes or by patients in physical rehabilitation.

But there is no proof that popular electrical belts do anything to change the shape or size of muscles or that they burn any fat, according to Jeffrey Feigal, who runs FDA's Center for Devices and Radiologic Health.

"There is no evidence that they do that," Feigal said. While federal officials did not test the three belts for effectiveness, "the physiology of these devices is well understood," he said in an interview.

An attorney representing the marketers of Fast Abs acknowledged that ads claiming the product could shed fat "are problematic." But he also said that product's packaging includes a diet and exercise plan designed to complement the device and that consumers are "sophisticated enough" to know that an electrical belt on its own cannot melt fat.

"The advertising is part of the message," said Jeffrey Knowles, an attorney representing Nevada-based United Fitness of America, LLC and Pennsylvania-based Tristar Products, Inc. Knowles said that Fast Abs was removed from the market 2 months ago "solely for economic reasons."

http://health.yahoo.com/search/heal...=s&p=id%3A21527

thank god!

I'll say it again...anybody who believes those things work should wrap them around their heads in hopes that their intelligence will improve, too.

I'm embarrassed to admit it but I bought one of these about 6 months ago. I had to quit using it because it caused my menstral cycle to mess up...I never stopped my "time of the month". After 2 weeks I realized that this little machine not only brought on a new "menstral cycle every morning when I used it....but it left my tummy with a "bruised" feeling..it actually hurt...and "NO"..it didn't take any inches away.
Being the idiot that I am...I tried it on my cellulite under my butt and the higher parts of my legs....I never found a setting on the machine that wouldn't feel like a thousand pin pricks with every "pump" of the gadget. Just picture me jumping around my bedroom trying to grab this slimy thing...it is slimmy with all the guuuuuk you must put on it for it to work....trying to rip it off before the next pump action...LOL
I also tried it on my arms..it left them like rubber for about an hour after the "workout"...and of course..no inches lost, just sore arms that didn't work right.
Maybe if I would have wrapped the stupid thing around my head I would have realized that it was a waste of money and probably hurt my body in more ways that I will ever need to know.

I am now riding my exercise bike and doing pushups...my menstral cycle is normal and my arms work just fine, lol

Cin.

YAY! Score one for the feds!

As the saying goes "if it sounds too good to be true.....it probably is"

Weight loss, inches loss and rock hard abs without excerise? yeah sure.

I am really glad to see the government cracking down on these devices and the false labeling on low carb products. It is really about time.

the same about the LC way of life (too good to be true) but in this case they are WRONG!!!!!!WRONG!!!!!!WRONG!!!!!!


Deb

I know a couple of people who have bought these things and swear by them (or maybe AT them...who knows?). To me they always looked like an expensive torture device and I found myself asking...why would I pay that much money to cause myself pain??? Glad to hear that they are cracking down on the false advertising!