A false advertising lawsuit filed in Santa Cruz County by the district attorneys of several California counties against the maker of a diet product was settled last week when the defendants agreed to the terms of a judgment against both companies.

The district attorneys of Sonoma, Alameda, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Solano sued Sensa Products LLC, a Delaware company and its parent company, Intelligent Beauty, Inc., a Delaware Corp., according to Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch.

“District attorneys and law enforcement agencies will continue to work together regionally to protect consumers from products that are sold with false and misleading claims,” she said.

The so-called Sensa “sprinkle diet” is sold nationwide and became the subject of a Statewide Nutritional Supplement Task Force investigation after claiming the efficacy of the product had been clinically proven in the largest clinical study ever conducted.

Sensa claims consumers will lose weight by sprinkling their flavored “tastants” on their food.  

As part of the final judgment the defendants agreed to pay civil penalties and costs in the amount of $800,000 to be used for the enforcement of consumer protection laws and restitution to California customers of $105,000.

Sensa Products LLC and Intelligent Beauty Inc. are permanently enjoined from making any claims regarding the efficacy or effects of any of their products without possessing competent and reliable scientific evidence that substantiates the claims.  

They also are prohibited from continuing to charge customers for shipments sent after a customer has asked to stop shipments, from enrolling a customer in an automatic shipment program without a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the customer’s obligations and before obtaining the customer’s affirmative consent, and from advertising a refund policy unless they clearly, conspicuously and in close proximity disclose any exclusions to the policy.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Cheever handled the case for Sonoma County.