Strong NATCP action against the influencer selling fake fat-burning products which have been withdrawn from the market due to food fraud

The National Authority for Trade and Consumer Protection (NATCP) is committed to the enforcement of consumer rights and the guarantee of their financial and health safety. In order to achieve this, the Authority provides professional assistance to businesses to help them comply with the law, while taking firm and strict action against serious cases of fraud and consumer scams. This was the case with the fake dietary supplements illegally marketed by the „Kalóriakirály” ("Calorie King").

The authorities concerned have been carrying out extensive investigations into the marketing of food supplements for several years. This year, the NATCP and the government offices under its professional control are investigating, among others, various weight-loss and potency-enhancing products. The investigations also cover food safety and misleading consumer information. In all cases, the aim of the authority is to guarantee consumer safety and rights.

Given the rise of the online world and social media, the investigation of influencer content is a priority area in the Authority's 2025 control programme. The Authority will monitor the activities of opinion leaders in the areas of information, product safety and food safety.

In the majority of cases, businesses and influencers strive to behave in a law-abiding manner, to which the NATCP provides all the assistance it can. However, there are some exceptional cases in which the authority must act as strictly as possible, especially when a business or influencer is deliberately trying to defraud consumers by circumventing the law and trying to evade any decision made by the authority.

A typical example of this is the behaviour of an influencer claiming to be the "Calorie King" („Kalóriakirály”). The NATCP has taken decisive action to prevent consumers from being misled and their health endangered by banning the continued sale of dietary supplements marketed by the "Calorie King" for food fraud and by ordering the suspension of the website advertising the products. Despite this, the distributing influencer continues to illegally sell the products on a foreign domain provider.

The influencer was not available at the UK registered address of the company listed on his previous website, and there was no record at all of the company he referred to in the UK company register.

The NATCP, acting in its competence as food chain supervisor, is currently conducting official proceedings against the manufacturer of the product labelling for food fraud, in the context of which it has taken a decision to be implemented immediately, given the nature of the infringement and the serious risk to the health of consumers posed by the continued marketing of the products. Since the official control clearly established that the dietary supplements under investigation were marketed with misleading information concerning their essential properties, which constitutes food fraud under the national legislation in force, the NATCP ordered the withdrawal from the market of the three dietary supplements concerned:

- KALÓRIAKIRÁLY ZSÍRPUSZTÍTÓ SZÉRUM capsules with L-carnitine, chromium and plant extracts, 16,2 g,

- KALÓRAKIRÁLY ÉHSÉGŰZŐ ELIXÍR dietary supplement capsules with plant extracts, net weight: 13,9 g/30 capsules,

- KALÓRIA KIRÁLY ZSÍRPUSZTÍTÓ EXTRA 37,67%-KAL TÖBB HATÓANYAG dietary supplement capsule with L-carnitine, chromium and plant extracts, net weight 16,05 g/30 capsules.

In addition, the Consumer Protection Department of the Government Office of the Budapest Capital City is currently conducting a consumer protection authority procedure regarding the legality of advertisements on social networking sites, misleading information and the lack of mandatory information elements, which has not yet been decided.

In parallel, the domain registrar, taking into account the obligation imposed by the authority, has acted in compliance with the law and has taken immediate action to remove the content of the website. The influencer concerned has made the products available again under a foreign domain, bypassing the decision of the authority, while questioning the impartiality of the authorities in charge on its social media platforms.

Despite the decision of the authorities, products marketed without authorisation pose a serious risk to consumers, as they are distributed without authorisation and contain misleading information, and may also pose a serious health risk: in the case of "Fat Destroying Products", the consumer groups that should avoid the product are not indicated.

Therefore, the NATCP once again warns the public not to buy these products!

The Authority will continue to intensify its controls to detect similar infringements and will use all the legal tools at its disposal to ensure that unlawfully marketed products that are harmful to health are not available to consumers. The Authority will do its utmost to ensure that products withdrawn from the market are not available in any webshop, online platform or shop. However, the NATCP firmly rejects the untrue, totally unrealistic and ridiculous allegations made on social media, given that it always acts in accordance with the law, on a professional basis and in the interests of consumers.