Supplement industry is full of quacks.

• Position: Dieting - Brief Article

The U.S. diet industry attracts large numbers of quacks and other pseudoscientists because consumers are so gullible, according to Katherine Beals, a Ball State University, Muncie, Ind., nutritionist. Scam artists seek a piece of the $30,000,000,000 Americans spend annually on a multitude of diet supplements, she says. Dietary supplements are products containing vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, and other botanicals. They are intended to supplement the diet. Promotions for good and bad products are found daily in newspaper and magazine ads and television infomercials. The advertisements accompany products sold in stores, on the Internet, and through mail-order catalogues.

"As a nation, we are witnessing a large and rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity, with an estimated 61% of Americans currently overweight or obese," she points out. "Many people are desperate and are looking for an easy answer to their problems. Quick fixes are appealing to Americans."

Beals explains that her research found people targeted by diet scam...