Carb blocker shocker
EX-GEORDIE SHORE CELEB TOLD OFF OVER TWEET
FORMER Geordie Shore star Holly Hagan has been rapped by the advertising watchdog over a tweet plugging Protein World pills.
The 25-year-old fell foul of Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rules over a post in May last year which featured herself holding a burger with a jar of Protein World’s ‘Carb Blocker’ capsules on the table in front of her.
Holly wrote: “Always take my @ ProteinWorld Carb Blockers Before a Cheat meal, contain natural ingredients and stop any unused sugars being used as fat #ad”.
An Instagram post by Protein World promoting the same product on May 26, 2017 also showed a model holding a burger with a jar of Carb Blockers in front of her along with a plate of chips.
It said: “We are already planning our weekend treat at PW head quarters with carb blockers at the ready!
“Take 2 carb blockers 30 mins before a high carb meal to stop unused sugars being stored as fat in the body! Guilt free Treat ... what a dream.”
Now, the ASA has ruled that both adverts must not appear again in their current form after finding that Protein World had not provided enough evidence to back up their health claims.
The body received two complaints over the claims that Carb Blocker capsules could stop unused sugars from being stored as fat in the body.
Protein World said that because the product name was “blocker” rather than “block” or “blocked”, it “would be understood by consumers to mean something that impeded the action of something else without completely preventing it”.
But the ASA ruled: “We consid- ered that in the context of a food supplement, consumers would consider ‘Carb Blocker’ to refer to something that offered significantly greater prevention than the body could naturally achieve without its use.”
The active ingredient in the capsules is Chromium, which regulates how well your body is able to break down and bind together carbohydrates.
The ASA found the pills did not contain enough chromium to be as effective as the adverts had claimed.
It said that the name ‘Carb Blocker’ or claims such as “stop any unused sugars being stored as fat” must not be used in any Protein World advertising for the product.
The ruling said: “Protein World said they had spoken to Holly’s agent and asked them to take down the tweet. They also removed the Instagram post.
“Protein World said they had received advice to add chromium to the product to substantiate the implied health claim in the product’s name.”