SUPPS
SPOTLIGHT
Walking The Walk
Few people would
have criticized Hi-Tech
Pharmaceuticals
CEO JARED WHEAT
if he didn’t stand up
to the FTC—except
Jared Wheat.
BY MICHAEL IRONS
IN 2014, A JUDGE SIDED
with the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) in a clash with Hi-Tech
Pharmaceuticals concerning the alleged
use of unsubstantiated claims on
supplement labels and marketing
materials. The “misleading” assertions
made by Hi-Tech? Describing some of
its weight-loss products as
“thermogenic” and a “metabolic aid.”
The ruling left Hi-Tech, a Georgia-based
supplements provider and
manufacturer, on the hook for $40
million in sanctions.
Hi-Tech’s president and CEO, Jared
Wheat, doesn’t believe the FTC cared to
discover whether the products in
question actually contained ingredients
that would kick-start thermogenesis or
boost metabolism. Instead, he says, it
boiled down to Hi-Tech’s refusal
to put the products through a
$100 to $200 million double-blind
placebo study.
“I remember thinking, ‘If I can’t call
something ‘fat burning’ or a ‘weight-loss
aid’ without a double-blind placebo
study, when we’ve been using
ingredients that we know do those
things, I need a new business,’” recalls
Wheat. “In the past I’ve done double-
blind studies that cost $30,000 to
$150,000, but you can’t patent most of
the ingredients [in workout supple-
ments]. So by the time you’re done with
a two-year, $100 million study, the fad
might be gone or the compound might
not pay off.”
142
MUSCLE & FITNESS
Hi-Tech’s company
principles: innovation,
quality, and consistency.
It wasn’t the first time Wheat battled
the FTC. In 2004 he was smacked with
a multimillion-dollar lawsuit and later
jailed when he stood up to the FTC amid
a product-recall demand. In 2014,
history repeated itself. First came the
fine—this one more than twice as much
as the previous one—and then jail.
FEBRUARY 2016
(Wheat and another Hi-Tech executive
were found in contempt of court,
resulting in a 63-day lockup.)
With the $40 million judgment looming,
Wheat had two choices: take the easier,
cheaper route and settle the case or
again do battle with the FTC. He chose
the latter.
PER BERNAL