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Scott Kennedy - Sea Vegg

Page last updated & all links verified July 04, 2006

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The Infomercial

This is one of the infomercials from the ITV Direct team. Scott Kennedy talks fast, never smiles and believes in his product. He appears to have brought stacks of "scientific studies" proving everything he was going to say about "Sea Vegg", his "made from seaweed" supplement.

Scott was one of the first I heard that said that all doctors, the FDA and the FTC work for the "big drug companies."

It's been a while since I saw the infomercial and so will not describe it further. (I did not have much more of a description in my original,)

The Product

ITV Direct, itself, does not create the products it sells (as near as I can tell). It creates and produces infomercials (most appear to feature Donald as the interviewer). They help their clients market their products, and, as I've said, have been in a fight to get legislation passed called the "Health Freedom Protection Act (HR 4282)" Off Site New Window (introduced in the House of Representatives by US Congressman Ron Paul on November 10, 2005). ITV does buy lots (not bunches, cases or pallets) of product from the supplier(s) for a discounted price, and sells them.

More about Sea Vegg:

"Sea Vegg is a 100% vegetable dietary food supplement containing up to twelve nutritionally dense species of whole sea plants, chosen from 10,000 verities. These plants are harvested off the coast of Ireland in cooperation with the Irish Government and their accredited scientists.The FarmaSea Pristine Ocean Blend of Sea Plants is more potent than any land plant salad and contains hundreds of organic plant compounds known as phyto (plant) chemicals. "

Again, I haven't seen Scott and the infomercial for some time. I believe it was pulled off the air because of some of the claims made. From ERSP - ITV Direct, Inc / Sea Vegg Nutritional Supplement Decision (DOC)

In the inquiry, ERSP requested that the marketer provide substantiation for several categories of core claims made for its product including:

  1. General Performance Claims: (i.e.,
    1. “Let their body regenerate”;
    2. “Seaweed can help people get stronger”;
    3. “I haven’t had a cold, flu, or fever since 1992…because my PH is balanced with seaweed.;
    4. “There’s an 86 year old dog that has come back to life.”;
    5. “… sea vegetation and the iodine in it can balance the thyroid.”;
    6. “Chronic fatigue…auto immune malfunction...you feel stamina.” and
    7. “…helped my mother’s MS.”
  2. Weight Loss Claims: (i.e.,
    1. “Stabilize your weight…despite your eating habits” and
    2. “Used to assist in weight loss.”
  3. Ingredient Claims:
    1. “76% of all the oxygen on the planet comes from a seaweed plant.”;
    2. “Our blood plasma is identical to sea water.”;
    3. “Removes toxins and heavy metals”;
    4. “60 times pound for pound the nutritional density of a land plant salad.” and
    5. “We have chosen species with higher minerals and capacities.”
  4. Health and Safety Claims:
    1. “Chronic degenerative disease…should they take more? They can decide to take more if they want.”;
    2. “Put your multivitamin aside”;
    3. “Incredibly, the destruction of these [cancerous] tumors was observed to take place without affecting normal cells.” and
  5. Establishment Claims: (i.e.,
    1. “scientific agreement behind my message and my mission”;
    2. “Sea Vegg regenerates your body like nothing else on earth…rebuilding….and the science proves it.”;
    3. “scientific research to back up.”;
    4. “We’ve been studying it for 20 years”;
    5. “scientific agreement on the value of sea vegetation when ingested into the human body.”;
    6. ”We have all the science behind it.”).”

[Later in the same document, after ITV and Kennedy said they'd change the website and infomercial:]

“… there are still references to chronic fatigue, regeneration of cells, arthritis, degenerative diseases, weight-loss and other medical conditions (including cancer) in the advertising and ERSP has concluded that it is not unreasonable for consumers to take-away the message that taking Sea Vegg (or that seaweed, in the amount contained in advertised product) will improve these conditions. In our original decision ERSP specifically stated that “the suggestion that Sea Vegg will help alleviate serious health problems such as chronic degenerative disease and fatigue, and will rebalance the thyroid are unsupported and should be discontinued from future advertising.” Accordingly, the evidence that has been submitted in this matter does not support such a takeaway and it is recommended that these references should be discontinued.“

...

ERSP has referred the matter to the Federal Trade Commission for possible enforcement action.

Copyright 2005. Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.

[Reformatted for easier reading - BS]

 

Product Websites

Following are links to what appear to be "main" sites for the product.

Reviews and Warnings

This section lists the sites where I found "negative" comments about the people and company, and/or the product. Some of the terms "sham", "scam", "scams", "flim-flam", "complain", "complaints", "rip", "rip-off", "fraud", "warning", similar words, and maybe just "review" were used in searching for negative comments.

WARNING: If you consider their (or others') offers, at least do as much research on them as you would in looking for a new house, car or doctor before buying anything. Also, be sure to read and understand any company's Privacy Policies and Terms/Conditions, too.

NOTE: Be careful with this product. Too much iodine is as bad (or worse) for you than too little. While it doesn't appear in the listed vitamins, minerals, etc., iodine, and it's nutritional value, is noted when some of the sites are discussing Kelp/Seaweed used.

From Better Health Channel - Thyroid conditions Q&A:

Q. Is too much iodine bad for you?

Too much iodine can cause problems, especially for those with a predisposition to Graves’ disease in whom the excess iodine can trigger the disease. Apart from iodized salt, iodine is found in kelp, iodine antiseptic (such as Betadine), iodine water purifiers, and the contrast medium that is used for internal tissue x-rays. Many diet pills contain kelp and can, therefore, contain quite high and sometimes excessive amounts of iodine. Milligram doses (which does not sound like a lot) of iodine in some of these tablets can represent 10, 100 or even 1,000 times the daily recommended dose and, if continued over long periods, can be a problem. ...

It is also well known that a diet that is high in soy can lead to goiters. The effect seems to be due to some of the chemicals in the soy binding (sticking) to thyroxine in the blood, thereby preventing the hormone from working. The thyroid is then stimulated by the pituitary to increase its production of thyroxine. Excess stimulation can cause the thyroid to swell.

[MY highlight - BS]

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