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ASA bans UK supplement ads over GLP-1 weight loss claims

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned several food supplement ads that referenced prescription GLP-1 weight loss drugs or made unapproved health claims.

The rulings, published in August, upheld complaints against five brands: Arrae Inc, Evolution Slimming, Myota GmbH, Ovira, and Inno Supps.

Each case involved Meta ads promoting supplements with claims about appetite suppression, metabolic enhancement, or weight loss, often using phrases such as “natural GLP-1” or “Faux-Zempic”.

The ASA said these ads breached UK advertising rules, which prohibit unauthorised health or medicinal claims for food supplements.

The rulings followed investigations prompted by the ASA’s Active Ad Monitoring system, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool used to identify potentially non-compliant digital advertising.

Claims linked to GLP-1 drugs ruled medicinal

Several ads used terms that implied the products had effects comparable to GLP-1 receptor agonists, a class of prescription-only medicines (POMs) used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes, including Ozempic and Wegovy.

In one example, Arrae described its supplement “MB-1” as “your all-natural Faux-Zempic”, claiming it could “support weight management”, “curb cravings”, and “quiet food noise”. Another ad featured a testimonial claiming the product helped someone “achieve my goal weight in three months”.

The ASA ruled that these statements were unauthorised medicinal claims, stating that in the context of the “Faux-Zempic” reference, consumers were likely to understand the product as offering similar effects to licensed drugs.

The ruling stated: “Because the ads implied that a food supplement could prevent, treat or cure human disease, and featured claims that a product had medicinal properties without the necessary authorisation, we concluded that they breached the code.”

The ASA also identified the term “food noise” as contributing to the impression that the supplement worked like a GLP-1 drug.

A spokesperson for the ASA told Ingredients Network: “In this group of rulings, two of the cases involved ads which referenced ‘food noise’. In these rulings, we listed ‘food noise’ as one of the claims that implied the supplement would have the same effect as GLP-1 POMs so was a medicinal claim.”

They added: “We haven’t previously investigated an ad where ‘food noise’ claims were presented outside the context of ads which are clearly linking the effects of the supplement to GLP-1, so we’re not able to say whether we consider it to be a health claim. It would really depend on the context of the ad we saw the claim in.”

Unauthorised health and weight loss claims

Several other brands made similar claims to that made by Arrae.

Myota described its product as “nature’s GLP-1” and “clinically proven to reduce blood sugar spikes, curb cravings, and support metabolism”.

Evolution Slimming claimed berberine could “enhance GLP-1 secretion” to improve appetite control, blood sugar balance, and fat metabolism.

The ASA said claims like “supercharge your metabolism” and “reduce stubborn body fat” were specific health claims that must be authorised on the Great Britain nutrition and health claims register. No such authorisation was provided.

Some ads also included banned claims about weight loss speed or amount, such as achieving a goal weight in a specific timeframe. Under the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising (CAP Code) rule 15.6.6, such statements are not permitted for food supplements.

In total, the ads were found to have breached rules 12.1, 12.11, 15.1, 15.1.1, 15.6, 15.6.2, 15.6.6, and 15.7 of the CAP Code.

How the ASA and CAP regulate ads

The ASA is the UK’s independent advertising regulator. It enforces the CAP Code, which is written by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP).

CAP is made up of industry bodies representing advertisers, media owners, and agencies, and provides guidance and training to help companies comply with the rules.

The ASA told Ingredients Network that its AI-based Active Ad Monitoring system has helped the organisation greatly in identifying problematic weight loss supplement claims.

“By monitoring online ads at both space and scale, this system enables us to detect potential issues quickly and step in where needed,” said the ASA.

“Last year, our Active Ad Monitoring System captured and analysed over 28 million ads (not just for weight-loss supplements), giving us much greater visibility of ads appearing online.”

While the ASA is not specifically monitoring ads aimed at people taking GLP-1 medications, the spokesperson added: “Any such ads must still comply fully with the relevant advertising rules. This means that advertisers should ensure their claims are accurate, not misleading, and supported by robust evidence. If we come across, or are made aware of, ads that breach these rules, we won’t hesitate to take action.”