TrimSpa was a dietary supplement designed for weight loss, marketed by the company Goen Technologies, headed by Alexander Szynalski, a.k.a. Alex Goen. Celebrity Anna Nicole Smith was its spokesperson. Various products marketed by TrimSpa were claimed to help "stave off hunger". Melissa D. Gordon (Rossi) was the original TrimSpa promotional Model. TrimSpa formerly contained ephedra until that ingredient was banned in the United States. TrimSpa's parent company, Goen Technologies, filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2008. Goen Technologies owed unsecured creditors debts up to $33 million, and had only $1.23 million in assets. In September 2008 it was decided by a judge to turn the case into Chapter 7 liquidation. TrimSpa had a peak existence of $141 million sales, $17 million operating profits, and was spending $10 million in advertising alone. It was decided that in October 2008 all of the remains of the business would go up for auction including thousands of TrimSpa bottles, two custom motorcycles, two custom vans with Anna Nicole Smith painted, an Indy-style race car, and various office equipment.
Contents
- Composition
- Federal Trade Commission fine for false claims
- Over the counter disclaimer
- Celebrity Endorsements
- References
The new TrimSpa formula X32, launched by new owners in 2013, contains no ephedra. Its claimed active ingredients are Hoodia gordonii along with the stimulants caffeine and theobromine.
Composition
Hoodia is a succulent native to Africa which is currently under investigation for use as an appetite suppressant. However, it has not been conclusively demonstrated that Hoodia works as an appetite suppressant in humans. No published peer-reviewed double-blind clinical trials have been performed on humans to investigate the safety or effectiveness of Hoodia gordonii in pill form as a nutritional supplement.
In addition to Hoodia gordonii, TrimSpa X32 tablets contain ingredients that may help promote weight loss, including green tea, glucomannan, cocoa extract, vanadium, and glucosamine. According to the manufacturer's labeling, TrimSpa X32 pills are taken 3 times per day minimum, 6 maximum.
TrimSpa X32 also contains chromium. Chromium may be beneficial in glucose regulation. The stimulant components are hoodia gordonii and components containing caffeine (green tea and cocoa extracts).
Federal Trade Commission fine for false claims
On January 4, 2007 the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced that the marketers of TrimSpa had agreed to pay a settlement of $1.5 million in response to an FTC complaint of making unsupported claims in advertisements, and were also prohibited "from making any claims about the health benefits, performance, efficacy, safety, or side effects of TrimSpa, Hoodia gordonii, or any dietary supplement, food, drug, or health-related service or program, unless the claims are true, not misleading, and substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence." The FTC also announced similar settlements with the marketers of Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, and One-A-Day WeightSmart.
Over-the-counter disclaimer
The original TrimSpa and the new TRIMSPA X32 are dietary supplements, regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under different rules than those governing prescription medicines and other over-the-counter products. Under these regulatory rules, TrimSpa products' safety and effectiveness are not reviewed by the FDA. Rather, TrimSpa's original parent company, Nutramerica Corp., and its original marketer and manufacturer, Goen Technologies Corp., were responsible for ensuring that their products were safe for public consumption. Same rules apply to the new owners.
Celebrity Endorsements
The model Anna Nicole Smith made TrimSpa famous in commercials with the phrase "TrimSpa, Baby!"