Post by catatonic on Mar 18, 2004 8:48:50 GMT -5
Maybe you've seen those "Focus Factor" ads. For just $5 shipping, you too can get your free bottle of Focus Factor and be just one week away from fixing all the problems of your brain.
Well, the Federal Trade Commission said the manufacturer of Focus Factor was making false claims... and the government won. Focus Factor now has to pay an $1 million dollar fine and stop making those assertions that their product will turn you into a mental marvel.
The FTC explains its position in a document released yesterday:
www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/03/vitalbasics.htm
What did Focus Factor claim it could do:
"Focus Factor, which includes vitamins, minerals, botanicals and amino acids, was marketed as needing only one to 10 days to improve adults’ focus, memory, stress levels, fatigue, mood swings and concentration; students’ ability to improve their academic performance; and senior citizens’ memory, mental clarity and energy."
If you look at the product's ingredients, it's a multi-vitamin (and a pretty good one, too) with added proprietary ingredients that include hupazine, dmae, dha, gaba, grape seed extract...all potentially helpful to adhd type problems, but probably not present in great enough quantity to achieve much therapeutic value. Ingredients are listed here:
www.vitalbasics.com/labelinformation.asp
If you're using Focus Factor currently, I wouldn't stop simply because of this ruling. No one has claimed that this is a bad supplement. In fact, it appears to be pretty nutritionally sound. What the government concluded was that it did NOT justify the claims the company was making about what it could do. I also find it incredibly difficult to believe that ANY supplement is worth the $75 per one month supply that this product carries!!!!!
Well, the Federal Trade Commission said the manufacturer of Focus Factor was making false claims... and the government won. Focus Factor now has to pay an $1 million dollar fine and stop making those assertions that their product will turn you into a mental marvel.
The FTC explains its position in a document released yesterday:
www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/03/vitalbasics.htm
What did Focus Factor claim it could do:
"Focus Factor, which includes vitamins, minerals, botanicals and amino acids, was marketed as needing only one to 10 days to improve adults’ focus, memory, stress levels, fatigue, mood swings and concentration; students’ ability to improve their academic performance; and senior citizens’ memory, mental clarity and energy."
If you look at the product's ingredients, it's a multi-vitamin (and a pretty good one, too) with added proprietary ingredients that include hupazine, dmae, dha, gaba, grape seed extract...all potentially helpful to adhd type problems, but probably not present in great enough quantity to achieve much therapeutic value. Ingredients are listed here:
www.vitalbasics.com/labelinformation.asp
If you're using Focus Factor currently, I wouldn't stop simply because of this ruling. No one has claimed that this is a bad supplement. In fact, it appears to be pretty nutritionally sound. What the government concluded was that it did NOT justify the claims the company was making about what it could do. I also find it incredibly difficult to believe that ANY supplement is worth the $75 per one month supply that this product carries!!!!!
