Companies Fined $1.5 Million for Falsely Claiming Caffeine-Infused Underwear Cuts Fat

I felt like a space-age promise: Wearing caffeine-infused undergarments would promote substantial weight loss around your middle. 

Less than, says the Federal Fruta Planta Reduce Weight Trade Commission. 

In a final order announced Monday, the FTC banned two companies, Norm Thompson Outfitters Inc. and Wacoal America Inc., from making those false marketing claims, ordering them to pay $230,000 and $1.3 million, respectively, that the FTC can use to refund customers. 

Based on the FTC, which originally settled with the two companies in September, no scientific proof backs up marketing claims by Norm Thompson Outfitters. "The company made claims that wearing its shapewear would eliminate or substantially reduce cellulite; lessen the wearer's hip measurements by up to 2 " and their thigh measurements by 1 inch; and reduce thigh and hip measurements 'without any effort.' " 

Its products had been sold via catalog shopping and on the company's Norm Thompson Outfitters, Sahalie, Body Solutions and Body Belle websites. 

The complaint against Wacoal America levied similar allegations about the company's iPants. "Specifically, the organization made false and unsubstantiated claims that wearing iPants would: substantially reduce cellulite; cause a substantial reduction in the wearer's thigh measurements; and destroy fat cells, leading to substantial slimming," the trade commission reported. 

An order forbids the 2 companies from claiming that any garment containing any drug or cosmetic causes substantial decrease in body size "unless they aren't misleading and can be substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence." 

"Caffeine-infused shape wear Meizitang Strong Version is the latest 'weight-loss' brew concocted by marketers," Jessica Rich, director from the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said inside a statement. "If someone says you are able to lose weight by putting on the clothes they're selling, stay away. A great way is tried and tested: dieting and exercise."