Garcinia Class Action Alleges Weight Loss Pills Don’t Work

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A class action lawsuit filed against the makers of “Ultra Concentrated Garcinia” alleges that the dietary supplement is falsely advertised.

The complaint asserts that the claims of appetite control and weight loss by manufacturer BPI Sports LLC are deceptive, because the “only purportedly active ingredient, Hydroxycitric Acid (‘HCA’) is scientifically proven to be incapable of providing such benefits.”

Plaintiff Nicholas Jaber is also suing related company Image Sports LLC and managing company Be Powerful LLC for violations of California consumer protection laws.

The defendants have marketed Garcinia pills at dietary supplement retailers like GNC and online for the past several years.

According to the defendants’ marketing, Garcinia cambogia is a fruit found in Asia and Africa that is used “to make meals more filling” and contains HCA which “is believed to have beneficial effects on appetite and weight management.”

The defendants also put those claims on the front of its Ultra Concentrated Garcinia bottles, telling consumers that they “may experience WEIGHT LOSS [and] APPETITE SUPPORT.”

However, the class action contends that “[n]umerous randomized, placebo controlled scientific studies demonstrate that Garcinia Cambogia extract and/or HCA does not provide weight-loss benefits in humans.”

The first real study was published in 1998, and found after 12 weeks that the weight loss between a group of people who took an HCA supplement and a group who took a placebo was “not statistically significant.”

The study also found that Garcinia did not help with fat loss, according to the complaint. In 1999, a study in the International Journal of Obesity concluded that “HCA supplementation was not an effective weight loss agent in people consuming a typical mixed diet.”

The complaint cites a study in 2000 published in the Journal of Physiology and Behavior that found “HCA had no effect on appetite suppression or reduction.”

Three other studies in the 2000s likewise proved that HCA was not effective at burning fat, increasing energy, or reducing food intake, according to the class action.

The Ultra Concentrated Garcinia false advertising class action argues that based on the multitude of scientific studies, several claims by the defendants on the pill bottles are false.

The complaint alleges that not only are its prominent “weight loss” and “appetite management” claims disproved, but even the “Ultra Concentrated Garcinia” title and its “50% HCA” and “triple strength” statements are misleading under California law.

Jaber says he purchased a bottle of Ultra Concentrated Garcinia with 60 pills in January of 2016 for around $50. Jaber claims that he purchased the pills because of the “weight loss” and “appetite management” statements on the bottle.

But despite taking the pills as recommended on the label, Jaber asserts that he experienced no weight-loss benefits, and would not have purchased the Ultra Concentrated Garcinia had he known the truth.

The false advertising lawsuit requests certification of a Class of “all persons in California who purchased, for personal or household use, and not for resale or distribution, Defendants’ Ultra Concentrated Garcinia Product.”

The class action seeks restitution and punitive damages, as well as an order requiring defendants to stop its deceptive marketing and engage in a corrective advertising campaign.

Jaber is represented by Paul K. Joseph, of The Law Office of Paul K. Joseph PC.

The Ultra Concentrated Garcinia False Advertising Class Action is Nicholas Jaber v. BPI Sports LLC, et al., Case No. 4:16-cv-05355, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.