Body Fortress Glutamine Powder is Falsely Advertised, Class Action Says

Makers of a glutamine powder supplement were hit with a class action lawsuit alleging false and misleading marketing dupes consumers into buying the unnecessary supplement.

Lead plaintiff Joshua DeBernardis alleges in his class action lawsuit that United States Nutrition Inc. and its parent company, NBTY Inc., sell an entirely unnecessary supplement using false advertising claims.

The dietary supplement, Body Fortress 100% Pure Glutamine Powder, provides an non-essential amino acid that is already plentifully produced by the human body, the plaintiff claims.

According to the class action lawsuit, Body Fortress 100% Pure Glutamine Powder is classified as an “L-Glutamine” product.

“L-Glutamine [Glutamine]…is a naturally-occurring, nonessential, neutral amino acid,” explains the plaintiff. “It is important as a constituent of proteins and as a means of nitrogen transport between tissues. It is ‘nonessential’ because the human body produces its own glutamine. Glutamine is the most abundant free amino acid in human skeletal muscle and plasma.”

DeBernardis alleges that the makers of Body Fortress mislead consumers into believing that glutamine supplements have beneficial effects, particularly body builders and athletes.

“Simply because a substance, such as glutamine, is a nutrient, does not necessarily mean that its enhanced use is beneficial,” argues the class action lawsuit. “Glutamine naturally found within the body does play a role in certain mechanisms supporting muscle growth and recovery and immunity support. However, as noted in the numerous scientific citations contained herein, glutamine supplementation has been found to be completely ineffective at mimicking these physiological responses.”

Body Fortress is marketed as a “recovery fuel” for use after workouts to help grow muscle, says the plaintiff. However, numerous scientific studies have proven that glutamine has no effect on muscle growth, alleges the class action.

Further, the makers of Body Fortress unfairly extrapolated the only study showing a beneficial effect of glutamine in order to deceive consumers, DeBernardis argues. According to the class action, that study evaluated naturally occurring glutamine, not supplements.

The plaintiff says that he and other consumers would not have purchased Body Fortress 100% Pure Glutamine Powder if it wasn’t deceptively marketed as providing health benefits.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased Body Fortress 100% Pure Glutamine Powder, along with an Illinois subclass and a multi-state subclass including consumers who purchased the powder in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Washington.

The class action alleges that the makers of Body Fortress 100% Pure Glutamine Powder violated various state consumer protection laws, the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, and are in breach of warranty. The plaintiff also alleges that United States Nutrition Inc. and its parent company, NBTY Inc., were unjustly enriched by the deceptive marketing of the powder.

The plaintiff is seeking damages on behalf of himself and the Class as well as disgorgement of ill-gotten gains by the defendants. DeBernardis is also asking for a court order stopping the companies from their allegedly deceptive marketing of Body Fortress 100% Pure Glutamine Powder.

The plaintiff is represented by Richard L. Miller II, Richard S. Wilson, and Natasha Singh of Siprut PC, and Nick Suciu III of Barbat Mansour & Suciu PLLC.

The Body Fortress 100% Pure Glutamine Powder False Marketing Class Action Lawsuit is Joshua DeBernardis v. NBTY Inc., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-06125, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.