NAD recommends company remove "survival pill" claims for product marketed to Mormons
The claims had been challenged by the Council for Responsible Nutrition. After a review, the NAD recommended the company remove claims that included:
• “Within 20 minutes you will feel your hunger pangs ease, as your mind sharpens on the task at hand.”
• LifeCaps ingredients help suppress/curb appetite.
• LifeCaps helps suppress hunger; alleviate hunger pangs
• LifeCaps may help you maintain high energy levels.
• LifeCaps may increase the mobilization and burning of fat reserves for energy.
The product is a mixture of Hoodia gordonii extract with vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals. The NAD concluded that the company had insufficient scientific backing for its claims.
LifeCaps pursues a unique marketing strategy on its website. The company claims the supplement will help with hunger pangs brought on by food shortages and will keep users more comfortable until new food supplies can be found. The marketers advise customers to include the pills in their “72-hour kit.” This appears to be aimed squarely at observant Mormons, who are advised by their church to have emergency supplies on hand, including the above mentioned kit for extreme emergencies.
LifeCaps, in a statement, said it “will take into consideration NAD’s decision as it reviews current and future advertising and labeling for the product.”
