A US subsidiary of German health ingredients business Degussa BioActives said it has filed an order for prompt action on a case it brought earlier this year against sports nutrition company Muscle Marketing USA.
Degussa BioActives' wholly-owned subsidiary Degussa BioActives US Sales filed a case on 15 February 2002 which requested that Muscle Marketing be prevented from making false claims about powdered creatine, a nutritional supplement that enhances exercise performance.
Muscle Marketing, based in Bell, California, sells liquid creatine, which it calls creatine serum. The company is also now being sued by consumers for making false claims about its creatine serum products.
Degussa BioActives US Sales, based in Champaign, Illinois, sells one of the leading brands of powdered creatine, Creapure.
Degussa BioActives claims that state-of-the-art analytical methods prove that the Muscle Marketing USA Creatine Serum products contain only very small amounts of creatine, and in fact contain more of an undesirable degradation product, creatinine.
Their case outlines what are believed to be five false, deceptive and misleading claims made by Muscle Marketing in its advertising and online materials and requests a permanent injunction and damages.
Degussa BioActives is also asking the court to require Muscle Marketing to publish advertisements to correct the deceptive statements - claims made regarding the safety of creatine powder and creatine serum are believed to be false and misleading.
The charges brought against Muscle Marketing in the independent class action complaint ( on 9 August) are similar to those brought earlier by Degussa BioActives. The case also uses research showing that the Creatine Serum Products do not result in any increase of blood levels of creatine after ingestion and 'have no beneficial effect on muscle growth or athletic performance'.
Degussa BioActives, which specialises in bioactive, health-promoting substances for the food industry, is a business unit of Degussa which last year generated operating profits (EBITA) of more than €1 billion.