Tea brand not for weight loss, FDA warns

MANILA, Philippines - A tea brand is being marketed illegally as a weight-loss product, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned the public yesterday.

In an advisory, FDA director general Kenneth Hartigan-Go said Optrimax Plum Delite was being advertised as having “therapeutic claims” and offered for sale through the websites www.plumdelite.com and OLX.com.

Go, however, noted that Optrimax pickled plum with probiotics and green tea mix is registered only as a food product.

 “The FDA strongly advises the public that processed food products are given approval by FDA only for human consumption and should not carry any therapeutic claims in their advertisements,” he said.

Go said Optrimax Plum Delite’s claim that it is “the right way to lose weight without diet and exercise is false and deceiving, since (it) is not a weight loss drug product.”