If a product trumpets benefits that seem too good to be true — “Lose weight by eating pizza!” — it probably means they are.
Armed with the tagline “Protecting America’s Consumers,” it is the Federal Trade Commission’s job to help ferret out these deceptive marketing claims. FTC employees are assigned to sift through popular magazines in search of bogus ads. They also receive complaints from competitors, consumers and Congress, explains Mary Engle, the FTC’s director for advertising practices. Here, TIME’s Healthland looks back at some of the overblown product promises that the government scotched this year.
