A NUTRITIONAL expert from Glasgow University has said that people are wasting billions on “quack” health foods that do not help weight loss.
Professor Michael Lean said that obese people are being tricked into buying useless products and hopes that a new EU directive, due to come into effect this year, will help to end scams.
Companies are currently banned from claiming that food products can treat or prevent diseases and obesity, as well as from making unconfirmed claims on the composition or nutritional function of food products such as saying they are low in fat or low in cholesterol.
Despite the current legislation, Professor Lean said that many unproven health claims are still made or implied through misleading marketing.
A spokesman for British supermarket chain Tesco said that their Healthy Living range “all contain a number of health benefits”.
“The criteria for our Healthy Living products is very strict,” he said, adding: “All of our products contain no hydrogenated fat and have at least two nutritional advantages.”
