Slimming World launches legal action against Asda over diet food range
SLIMMING world confirmed that it is launching legal action against Asda after the supermarket chain introduced a range of ready meals based on the weight loss firm's diet plan.
Asda launched the own-brand Slimzone range last month, with 13 frozen ready meals that claim to be low in calories.
The meals are designed to be enjoyed by those following the Slimming World Extra Easy plan.
But Slimming World, which has its own range of exclusive products in Iceland, has now asked the supermarket to remove Slimming World trademarks from the range as it believes the supermarket is using them "unlawfully";.
Asda's Slimzone ready meals cost £2.50 each – 50p cheaper than Slimming World's own brand in Iceland.
A statement from Slimming World said: "After careful consideration and on the advice of our legal team, Slimming World has this week taken action to ask Asda to remove our trade marks from their range of Slimzone meals.
"We believe that Asda are unlawfully using our much loved and much respected name and trademarks on their meals, and are trading on the back of our brand’s reputation, which we’ve built and nurtured over 47 years."
The statement continued: "We’ve worked hard over the years to earn the trust and confidence of our consultants, our members and the UK and Irish public – and maintaining that trust and confidence is at the heart of our decision.
"The case is now in the hands of a judge and we won’t be able to comment further on the meals themselves until we know the outcome of the case."
In response to the statement, Asda told The Sun Online: “Our customers have told us that saving money and leading a healthy lifestyle is a priority and that is why we developed our Slimzone range for them.
“We're confident in Slimzone and our customers seem to love it too. We've shared a full list of ingredients for the Slimzone meals to help our customers make up their own minds.”
What is the Slimming World diet?
The Slimming World diet is run by a Derbyshire-based weight loss company, which was created by Margaret Miles-Bramwell in 1969.
It focuses on a diet of Food Optimising, where members are given a list of "free foods" that can be eaten in unlimited amounts.
The programme encourages dieters to swap high-fat foods for low-fat foods that are naturally filling.
You can get support from fellow slimmers at weekly group meetings and follow an exercise plan to become gradually more active through their Body Magic initiative.
The Slimming World diet is designed to help you lose about 1-2 pounds a week and currently has around 800,000 members attending each week.
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