Geordie Shore’s Sophie Kasaei lands in hot water over false slimming tea claims
GEORDIE Shore's Sophie Kasaei has landed in hot water after she posted misleading claims about a slimming tea product on her Instagram.
She uploaded before and after pictures of her showing off her stomach in gym gear claiming Flat Tummy Tea was the reason for her more svelte waist.
The Advertising Standards Authority ordered her to take the post downs and added no more similar adverts are to be published again saying the claims are false.
Sophie's post on March 22 read: “#ad Tummy Game Plan? You know it’s @flattummytea. Nothings [sic] gonna get you flat the same as this tea will. The excuses are in the past, much like the water weight I used to have.”
A complainant went to the ASA insisting the claims the tea would help with water weight were illegitimate.
The authority challenged Flat Tummy Tea saying the assertions must be on the EU Register of nutrition and health claims.
And it admitted it did not hold “scientific data to support their claims that the tea ingredients could help with water weight loss”.
As a result, the complaint was upheld because it breached codes of the Committees of Advertising Practice which says the claims must be backed by "documentary evidence”.
The ASA said the advert would mean followers of Sophie would be led to believe if they drank the product it would reduce any “water weight” and would help them to achieve a “flat tummy”.
It added the images she uploaded could be perceived as clear evidence of the effects of the tea.
It said: “The ad must not appear again in its current form.
“We told Flat Tummy Tea to remove the claims and ensure that their future ads did not make health claims which were not listed as authorised on the EU Register.
“We also told them not to make references to health-related well-being in brand names unless those claims were accompanied by a permitted health or nutrition claim.”