15 SNS influencers, YouTubers caught for false ads

By Bahk Eun-ji

The food and drug authority has found over 150 online ads of weight-loss supplements that make exaggerated claims or provide false information regarding the efficacy of the products.

An advertisement on Instagram shows a false representation of the results of a weight-loss supplement. /Courtesy of Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) said Thursday, it monitored influencers with more than 100,000 followers on social media platforms including Instagram and YouTube, and who have advertised weight-loss supplements on their accounts, for five months from last August, and cracked down on 153 exaggerated or fake claims regarding 33 products.

The influencers and famous YouTubers who were caught, had advertised the specific products by uploading posts that implied they'd lost weight as a result of the products. Of the posts, 126 advertised food products such as “detox juice” and teas to “cleanse the body,” as effective weight loss products.

Five postings even claimed the products treat or prevent cancer and heart disease.

The influencers encourage their followers to buy the products by including the seller's websites in their posts.

The food safety ministry said, however, the photos uploaded by those influencers on their social media were mostly photoshopped, and it is illegal to post advertisements with doctored photos and fake claims.

The ministry also said weight loss or reduced swelling in the body is not based on food products or supplements, adding the effects of such products have never been examined and approved.

“The crackdown on social media platforms took long because it was hard to trace the users' personal information. However, the food safety ministry will keep monitoring those kinds of false advertisements on social media to protect customers' health and safety,” said Shim Jin-bong, a deputy director of the MFDS' cyber investigation bureau.