So brave! Lowering cholesterol can help you lose weight, the top offender

Many people regard health foods as a guarantee of quality, but the Taipei City Health Bureau reminds people to check the approved functions before use. In the latest 2011 illegal advertisements, three health foods ranked in the top three in the television category. Among them, "Healthy New Amine - Water-soluble Chitosan", which has the approved effect of lowering total cholesterol in the blood, was monitored 204 times in advertisements claiming to help lose weight, which is the largest number of illegal cases.

The Taipei City Health Bureau reminds that health foods must have a "healthy food label" and cannot exaggerate their weight loss effects.

"Healthy food" is a legal term in Taiwan. Food must be accompanied by relevant evidence and approved by the Department of Health before it can have the "healthy food label". On the 5th, the Taipei City Health Bureau announced the results of the 101st annual illegal advertising inspection. A total of 935 illegal food advertisements were seized, of which 451 claimed "medical efficacy", accounting for 48.24%, and another 324 claimed "weight loss", accounting for 34.65%.

If we distinguish by media, the top three illegal TV advertisements are all health foods. The original effect of "Healthy New Amine - Water-soluble Chitosan" is to lower total cholesterol in the blood to regulate blood lipids, but the advertising slogans: "Stress + secretion disorder = vicious cycle of rapid weight gain, strengthen detoxification in autumn and winter, refuse fat to spend the winter, find the right method, get rid of fat..." clearly claim to be able to lose weight; "Health Burdock Essence" and "Gu Li Bu Capsule", which also have the label of health food, also use sensational advertising slogans to exaggerate the medical efficacy.

Shen Meili, deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration, said that although health foods have specific health benefits, they do not have therapeutic effects, and the content of advertisements cannot exceed the approved scope. Therefore, these three foods have been fined NT$100,000 for violating Article 24 of the Health Food Management Act. If the illegal advertisements are not corrected, they will be fined again every time they are discovered in the future.

In total, the Taipei City Government's Health Bureau detected 3,196 cases of illegal cosmetic, food, and drug advertisements in 2011, including 2,061 cases of cosmetics, 935 cases of food, and 200 cases of drugs. 1,498 cases have been punished for violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Cosmetics Hygiene Management Regulations, Food Hygiene Management Act, and Healthy Food Management Act, with fines totaling NT$97.87 million. The rest are still under investigation or have been referred to the health bureaus of the counties and cities under the jurisdiction of the businesses for handling.

The Department of Health reminds the public that there are many tricks in advertising and marketing, so to be a smart consumer, you must adhere to the "five no's" principle: don't listen to other people's recommendations, don't watch false advertisements, don't believe in the efficacy of food, don't buy exaggerated products, and don't eat products from unknown sources. Detailed information on illegal products can be found on the Taipei City Government Department of Health website (http://www.health.gov.tw/).