Good morning.

Today, I am announcing the latest installment in our continuing attack on fraudulent weight loss advertising. The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint and a stipulated preliminary injunction in federal court against the sellers of yet another bogus weight loss dietary supplement called, "Slim Down Solution."

The product was advertised by Slim Down Solutions, LLC, which ran a number of infomercials claiming that the main ingredient of Slim Down Solution - d-glucosamine - would cause consumers to "lose 10 Pounds And 2 Inches In 30 Days" without "changing your lifestyle and your eating habits."

How would this miracle pill work? Well, according to Slim Down's infomercials, the pill would absorb dietary fat and carry it right out of the body, and "reduce the amount of fat in a cheeseburger with everything on it to less fat than a plain turkey sandwich." Just like magic.

That would be a terrific product - if only the claims were true. But, as we allege, they're false. All of the scientific evidence tells us that the only real slim down solution is to eat less and exercise more.

The stipulated preliminary injunction we filed asks the court to stop Slim Down Solutions from making the kind of claims that we allege are false. We are also asking the judge to prevent the company from dissipating corporate assets or destroying any evidence. Slim Down Solutions has agreed to these provisions.

This case is yet another illustration of the problem of weight loss fraud. As we discussed at our Weight Loss Workshop last November, any successful fight against weight loss fraud will require efforts on four fronts: law enforcement, consumer education, industry self-regulation, and effective media screening. The advertisements for Slim Down Solution appeared on national cable TV networks like Bravo and Comedy Central. Ads for other d-glucosamine products appeared on home shopping channels, including Value Vision. That shouldn't happen.

To assist the media, our workshop identified a list of eight weight loss claims that are scientifically unfeasible. We have asked for public comment on the list. Once we evaluate those comments, we will finalize the list and provide it to the media.

To responsible members of the media, we say again: we need your help. Stop selling advertising to the purveyors of pills and patches, potions and lotions that exploit overweight Americans with outrageous claims that you can diet in your dreams and exercise in a bottle. Our aggressive law enforcement against fraudulent weight loss claims will continue, but we cannot do it alone.

We appreciate hearing from consumers who want to report questionable claims or deceptive ads. You can call our toll free telephone number, 1-877-FTC-HELP or complain online at www.ftc.gov.

And now, I'll be happy to take your questions.

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