Degussa creatine case one step closer to victory
that all forms of creatine powder, including the product made by
Degussa Food Ingredients, are ineffective. The firm had
countersued, following a case first brought by Degussa.
A Los Angeles court has dismissed Muscle Marketing USA's claims that all forms of creatine powder, including that made by Degussa Food Ingredients, are ineffective.
In February 2002 Degussa BioActives charged Muscle Marketing USA (MM USA) with trade libel and false claims regarding MM USA's 'creatine serum' product and comparisons to creatine powder. The claims stated that creatine serum is more effective than creatine powder. In June this year, Muscle Marketing USA (MM USA) responded by filing allegations saying that creatine powder is ineffective and also made similar claims against Degussa BioActives.
The US federal district court in Los Angeles, where the Degussa BioActives litigation is pending, has now stricken these MM USA counterclaims meaning that they cannot be asserted in this action, now or in the future.
In a statement yesterday Degussa management described the claims as 'frivolous, irresponsible, and without any basis in fact whatsoever'. It added that creatine powder has been shown to be effective and safe over the past 10 years by a large body of scientific literature and studies.
Degussa also noted that it was MM USA's 'creatine serum' product which had been shown to be entirely ineffective by a number of widely accepted studies.
In April researchers from Baylor University and the Neurology Unit at McMaster University reported on a series of side-by-side muscle biopsy clinical tests involving creatine serum and creatine powder. Degussa BioActive's creatine powder, Creapure creatine monohydrate, performed as claimed, increasing creatine levels in muscle by approximately 30 per cent, while the MM USA creatine serum product was found to be ineffective, equivalent in performance to the placebos.
In lawsuits brought by other US consumer groups in the Los Angeles state court, the judge has already determined, in initial holdings, that MM USA has made false claims regarding its creatine serum products which are likely to deceive the public. Those state court actions are proceeding.
