‘Beach body’ shake contains 17 TIMES more carbs than it claims
Slender Blend has been endorsed by celebs but we lift lid on dodgy weight loss drink
WEIGHT loss shakes sold by slimming firm Protein World contained up to 17 times more carbs than claimed on the label, The Sun can reveal.
Its Slender Blend shakes — promoted by Towie’s Sam Faiers and Celebrity Big Brother’s Casey Batchelor — also contain up to a third less protein than advertised.
Protein World is being probed by Trading Standards and could face fines of up to £40,000 if it is found to have breached strict labelling rules.
Nutritionists say dieters avoid carbs to shed weight and eat more protein to build muscle and they warn that misleading labels could lead to weight gain.
Lowering protein levels and upping carbs would also make the product cheaper to produce, say experts.
Protein World, run by playboy Arjun Seth, 31, also faced a backlash last year for an advert which asked women if they were “Beach Body Ready”.
Two sets of lab tests were carried out on Slender Blend, which costs £20 for a 600g jar at Superdrug, before and after a formula change in February.
In the first all three products had inaccurate nutrition labels, as did all five in the second.
Chocolate flavour Slender Blend stated there was just 2.2g of carbs per 100g, when the jar contained 38.5g per 100g — more than 17 times as much.
It also stated the product contained more than 70g of protein per 100g, when in fact there was less than 50g per 100g.
Tests on the revised chocolate formula found it had 41g of carbs per 100g rather than the 21g claimed, a 95 per cent difference.
Jon Griffin, of Kent Scientific Services, which carried out the second tests, said: “The declared nutrition information was outside acceptable tolerances of accuracy which is potentially misleading.”
Trading Standards said: “The company is committed to complying with legal ingredient, health claim and labelling standards.
“Should Protein World fail to do so, we will seriously consider all legal enforcement options.”
A Protein World spokesman said the firm’s own tests “match with our current labels”.
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Boss's joy
FITNESS fanatic Arjun Seth makes millions from Protein World.
The latest accounts, for 2014, show sales of £5.4million with profits of £2.8million.
Protein powder sales in Britain rose from £73million in 2007 to £170million in 2012, and could hit £358million by 2017.
Playboy Seth, son of millionaire Guru, drives a Bentley and a convertible Lamborghini Huracan.
His sister Aruna designed Pippa Middleton’s evening shoes for sister Kate’s wedding.
Ads storm
PROTEIN World’s Beach Body Ready ad sparked controversy last year.
More than 71,000 signed a petition calling for the Slender Blend campaign to be axed.
They claimed the London Underground posters “fat shamed” women. The Advertising Standards
Authority said the ad was not offensive but banned the poster as its health and nutrition claims breached EU rules.
It later emerged the furore generated an extra £2million in sales for Protein World.
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