When 21-year-old Ho saw an advertisement for SoToSo weight-loss products, she thought that she had finally found a solution to her problem.
Tired of being called chubby, Ho (who requested to be identified only by her family name) has been trying to lose weight since high school.
"The advertisement claimed the manufacturer would withdraw from the weight-loss industry if it could not make us lose 10kg," Ho said.
"They also used the family of a famous Taiwanese entertainer to promote their product. Anyone would want to respond to the ad right away," she said.
The most enticing aspect of the ad, Ho said, was its promise that she could continue to eat and drink as normal.
As she is a college student, the salesperson even offered to secure a small loan for her if she had any problem paying for the product, which could cost NT$58,500.
Three months after Ho purchased the product, however, her weight had increased from 53kg to 54kg, and she was almost dehydrated as a result of diarrhea, Ho said.
When she asked for a refund, the company said that she could only have one-third of the money back, she said.
Cases like these have compelled the John Tung Foundation to analyze the ingredients of some of the weight-loss products currently available on the local market, the foundation said at a press conference yesterday where Ho told her story.
According to the foundation, while some of the products failed to comprehensively list their ingredients, others simply used a different name for products that are already well-known.
Lin Chuen-chi (林純吉), a member of the Taipei Veterans' General Hospital emergency-room staff, said that dehydration was the most common reaction among people using weight-loss products, as some of the products contain laxative ingredients such as senna. Others become hyperactive because of ingredients which stimulate the central nervous system.
Lin said that a product became a potentially fatal drug if it contained more than 12mg of senna.
"The best way to lose weights is move more and eat less," Lin said at the press conference.
Despite complaints of side effects, SoToSo continued placing full-page advertisements in the local press, proclaiming that "anyone can lose 24kg and still keep munching," the foundation said.
The foundation has set up a center to assist people with complaints to present their case to the legal authorities.
Sheu Hui-yu (許惠玉), director of the foundation's food nutrition division, said that people seem to lose their better judgment whenever they hear the words "weight loss."
There is no such thing as weight-loss food products, she said.
No immediate response was available from SoToSo yesterday.
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