Call for legal controls on slimming claims

The new product is a seaweed patch placed on the upper arm

By the BBC's Karen Bowerman

Nutrition experts say that controls are needed to make sure the claims made by dieting products are supported by hard evidence.

Some are concerned that overweight people could be wasting their money on unproven gimmicks.

People in the UK spend around 2 billion pounds a year on products which claim to help them lose weight.

Currently manufacturers are not compelled by law to prove that their products work, and can make claims that are unsupported by evidence.

Seaweed treatment

The "No Diet Demopatch" patch is attached to the upper arm just like a nicotine patch, and claims to boost the metabolism to burn off excess fat.

Research in the US suggests this product is effective - manufacturers and distributors say recent trials here also support this. But its rare for slimming products to have undergone such stringent trials and for this one product, there are hundreds of others which make claims that can't be backed up by scientific data.

Amanda Lennon, from the patch's manufacturers, said: "It's not a gimmick, seaweed has been used for centuries for weight control, the only difference is that this has 21st Century packaging."

Susie Orbach disputes the claims for the seaweed patch

There are a wide variety of products on the market which profess to help people lose weight.

Among them are pens which, it is claimed, the dieter sniffs to reduce appetite, and even a drink which says it can help people lose weight while they sleep.

But Gail Geldberg, from the British Nutrition Foundation, says that these treatments, falling between the highly-regulated food and medicine industries, are not sufficiently controlled.

She said: "Products can make a number of claims which at the moment are not supported by published scientific evidence."

Therapist Susie Orbach, who has written books on dieting, expressed doubts about the seaweed patch treatment.

She said: "I think we have created a climate where almost every woman is insecure aobut her body.

"The products create that insecurity but also promote and provide an answer. We do need legislation."