daily-consumertips.com

Don't fall for it!

Do you know the "real dangers" of having a toxic colon?

Neither did "Natalie Winston," a "reporter" at Daily Consumer Tips, until she "recently put the Acai Berry Diet to the test."

Surely you heard about it on "ABC, Fox News Channel, CBS, CNN, USAToday and Consumer Reports."

After four weeks on the Acai Berry Select supplement and Acai Advanced Colon Cleanse, Winston not only lost an "astonishing amount of weight," the supplements also bosted her energy level!  

But wait! There's more!

In fact, the claims about acai berries made in advertisements that appear in pop-ups, Google search results, on real news sites (including msnbc.com) and even on WebMd.com, are not based in real research done by actual reporters. Today, the Federal Trade Commission is doing something about it.

In a press conference held Tuesday, the FTC announced a crackdown on fake news websites advertising acai berry weight-loss pills. The FTC announcement reads, in part:

Millions of consumers are being lured to websites that imitate those of reputable news organizations.  The "reporters" on these sites supposedly have done independent evaluations of acai berry supplements, and claim that the products cause major weight loss in a short period of time with no diet or exercise.  In reality the websites are deceptive advertisements placed by third-party or "affiliate"marketers.  The websites are aimed at enticing consumers to buy the featured acai berry weight-loss products. 

The FTC filed charges against companies and individuals blurring the lines between advertisements and journalism promoting false information about acai and colon cleansing. In some cases, companies and individuals were hit with temporary restraining orders preventing assets from being moved or records from being destroyed. The offending websites must prominently display a statement that they are being sued by the FTC, or be removed from the Web.  

As for the "as seen on ABC, Fox News Channel, CBS, CNN, USAToday and Consumer Reports" — yeah, that never happened either. At least in the way the acai scammers would want you to believe.  Way back in 2009, Consumer Reports issued a warning about websites and pop-up ads promoting acai products infiltrating the Internet, and mentioned how the scammers came across those acai-endorsing logos: 

On May 24 [2009] "60 Minutes" re-aired its January report on the possible life-extending properties of resveratrol—a substance mostly found in grapes, red wine, and purple grape juice. Last year, Oprah Winfrey’s medical expert, Mehmet Oz, M.D., mentioned resveratrol and acai berries on his anti-aging checklist.

One site that’s pushing a resveratrol product actually has video from the "60 Minutes" report and a photo of Dr. Oz. Some sites even use the doctor’s name in their Web address. But the Oprah Web site has issued a notice that neither Oprah nor Dr. Oz has endorsed any product containing resveratrol or acai berry. 

In January 2009, Consumer Reports reported that "evidence on the health benefits of acai berries is scant." The bottom line:

CU’s medical consultants advise consumers to be wary of formulations of resveratrol or acai berries being marketed on the Web and in health food stores. While the encouraging test tube and experimental animal research, with purified resveratrol, has yielded some beneficial results, any extrapolation to humans leaves much to be desired – not the least of which are quantitative and safety aspects of its use.

If you want to know the real dangers of having a toxic colon, you should probably ask your doctor.

More on the annoying way we live now:

• Don't click this link between April 18 and April 24!
• Notorious NSFW website cleans up its act
• Facebook photo-tagging scam running rampant

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook.