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Health claims raise consumer ire
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MORE than 85 percent of complaints over health-care products concerned false advertising, said the city’s consumer rights protection commission, which received 654 complaints last year.
Health products that did not match the claims made for them topped the list, the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission said.
Statements such as boosting immunity, reducing blood glucose and blood pressure, easing fatigue and losing weight were cited among the overblown claims.
Some health products said to be made with expensive ingredients, such as Chinese caterpillar fungus, targeted at middle-aged and elderly consumers, used inferior substitutes, according to the commission.
It was usually difficult to trace fraudulent businesses behind the scams because they took seniors to hotels and other venues for sales after seniors had tried their products in shops, the commission said.
Many health product shops are located near to residential communities and unscrupulous operators entice older consumers to buy their products by exaggerating their health effects, the commission said.
A common trick businesses used to win the trust of seniors was to offer free health checks and expert consultations.
A consumer surnamed Zhang who had suffered from diabetes for years bought a health product called “Tang An Kang” after receiving a book claiming to cure diabetes within 90 days.
The health product recommended by the book turned out to be a common food product without any use for curing diabetes, but Zhang had yet to receive any refund, said the commission.
It called for a national standard and management regulations over health products.
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