Alkaline Water Plus
Are there really any benefits to drinking alkaline water?
"You don't need to detox ... anything at all," says an OB/GYN commenting on company's outlandish claims.
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UPDATE 2/12/20: Goddess Detox’s claims to purge women’s bodies of ex-lovers and increase fertility are now at the center of a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of deceptive marketing.
Goddess Detox claims its Vaginal Detox Pearls can help with a number of women’s health issues — everything from curing infertility to relieving painful menstrual cramping to “detoxing an ex-lover.”
“When it comes to sexual relations with a partner, the energy that they have imprinted in your womb area, in your yoni area, in your uterus area, is still there,” says Goddess Detox founder and CEO, Vanessa White, in a video on the company’s website (embedded above).
But before you insert the pearls into your vagina, you’re going to want to “speak your intention over the pearls,” White says in the video. She explains that, like the pearls, which cost $33 for “1 full cleanse,” words carry “vibrational energy.”
What does an actual gynecologist have to say about the company’s claims that its pearls, which are filled with herbs and inserted through the use of a plastic applicator, “promote overall womb and vaginal health” by purging harmful toxins from the vagina?
“You don’t need to detox … anything at all,” Dr. Jen Gunter told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation last month. “There’s nothing in your reproductive tract that needs to be detoxed. Your whole body, you’ve got liver and kidneys — they take care of that.”
CBC interviewed Gunter as part of an investigation into the marketing of the pearls. (Gunter is an outspoken critic of Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness empire, Goop, which was the subject of a 2017 TINA.org investigation and complaint to California regulators who then sued the company for deceptive marketing.)
Following the CBC investigation — which, among other things, discovered a toxic ingredient in the product, borneol — Health Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the FDA, barred the sale of the pearls in Canada. A Health Canada spokesman noted in an email to TINA.org that the natural health product was never approved for sale in Canada.
“The company agreed to stop selling the unauthorized product in Canada, and has removed Canada from its list of shipping destinations,” the spokesman said.
But consumers in the U.S. can still purchase the pearls, which is what they’re doing, according to pop-up sales notifications from American cities like San Antonio and Las Vegas on the Goddess Detox website.
And the company is still marketing its product with claims that Gunter finds not only misleading but also offensive.
“Everything that was there three days ago is not there now, today,” the OB/GYN told CBC in regard to claims of detoxing an ex-lover. “And I think people should be ashamed of themselves for saying things like that.”
Not to mention claims to treat diseases like infertility are illegal in the U.S. without FDA approval, which Goddess Detox does not have.
TINA.org reached out to Goddess Detox for comment. Check back for updates.
Find more of our coverage on claims targeting womanhood here.
Our Ad Alerts are not just about false and deceptive marketing issues, but may also be about ads that, although not necessarily deceptive, should be viewed with caution. Ad Alerts can also be about single issues and may not include a comprehensive list of all marketing issues relating to the brand discussed.
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