Some general foods promoted as having weight-loss effects similar to the obesity drug "Wegovy" were found to in fact contain no ingredients that help reduce body weight. Some products were also found to have lured consumers by using fake doctor images created with artificial intelligence (AI).
On the 24th, the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) said that a review of 16 foods marketed for dieting that are sold on the market found a lack of objective evidence to prove weight-loss efficacy in all products and confirmed unfair advertising.
Those surveyed are all general foods such as beverages or processed fruit and vegetable products. ▲Daitox Neptine Tablet ▲Duorexin Nabi Tablet ▲Berberine OZP Bergamot Quercetin ▲Celltrion Innerlab Wegoit ▲Onexia ▲Weltylab Vineritox21 Berberine Probiotics ▲Wegotox Wegotox ▲Winovi ▲Ebenoit Salad Water Peppermint Flavor ▲Zenbia ▲GLTIX ▲GL Program ▲Peranol Tablet ▲Penteramine Tablet ▲FastBurning GLERt Probiotics the premium ▲WE GO GOOD Wegood Naxan GLP-1.
These products advertised themselves on online sales pages with phrases such as "GLP-1 activation" and "drinkable Wegovy," as if they had effects similar to obesity drugs. In particular, 14 out of 16 (88%) were sold in tablet form, making it highly likely that consumers would mistake them for pharmaceuticals.
Their advertising tactics were also flagged as a problem. Five products (31%) used AI-generated images of fictional doctors or influencers. They lured consumers by featuring people or places that do not actually exist or by creating manipulated social networking service (SNS) posts to boost advertising credibility.
Ingredient analysis found that none of the 16 products contained raw materials that directly help with weight loss. Four products that emphasized "sustained satiety" contained dietary fiber such as cellulose and glucomannan, but the daily intake was 0.9–3.2g, an amount insufficient to meaningfully induce satiety.
However, no pharmaceutical ingredients that cannot be used in foods, such as obesity drugs or constipation treatments, were detected in those surveyed.
The agency recommended that related businesses suspend sales and correct unfair advertising. It also plans to ask the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety to strengthen inspections of unfair advertising for diet-marketed foods online, prepare measures to prevent general foods in tablet form from being mistaken for pharmaceuticals, and establish management standards for AI-generated content used in food advertising.
The agency said, "When purchasing products that claim to reduce body weight, you must check the list of materials and supplies and the certified health functional food mark," and urged, "For a healthy diet, it is desirable to combine lifestyle improvements such as diet management and exercise."