FTC: Seasilver is tarnished
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/19/2003 11:35:00 AM
Any TV or radio stations with Seasilver infomercials in the rotation should double up on some of those wonder car polish or incredible knife set shows instead.
The Federal Trade Commission has charged the marketers and distributors of Seasilver with false claims about the health benefits and safety of their "cure-all" dietary supplement.
Seasilver has been making those claims in radio and TV infomercials, hawking its product as a treatment and/or cure for some 650 illnesses, including AIDS and cancer, as well as a diet aid, according to the FTC.
The action is the latest in Operation Cure All, the agency's ongoing crackdown (since 1999) on fraudulently marketed health products.
The FTC has obtained court orders preventing Seasilver USA and Americaloe Inc. from making various claims, as well as freezing their assets.
U.S. Marshalls have also seized 132,480 bottles of Seasilver worth $5 million, though only at the asking price of nearly $40 a bottle for a mixture of aloe vera, Phyto-silver (billed as a plant-based silver), "sea vegetables," Pau D'Arco (an herb, not a person) and cranberry concentrate.
The FTC has been encouraging stations to better screen their infomercials and spots for obviously suspect health and diet claims.
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