Ten district attorneys who filed a civil lawsuit against Irwin Naturalscharges of false charges of false advertising and unfair business practices have now signed a $2.65 million settlement in Orange County, California.  The Los Angeles based company that markets dietary supplements including hoodia, agreed to pay out the record sum over the allegations of misleading and false advertising, in that the products did not contain the Hoodia herb extract, and negligence in their failure to disclose it contained lead in excess of the maximum amount allowed under state law. The civil lawsuit was filed by the prosecutors for Alameda, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano and Sonoma counties.

Further tests carried out by investigators revealed the company also markets several green tea products which were found to contain lead levels of between 10 and 14 times the legal limit.  Irwin Products was also criticised for inadequate labelling of their products and their slow response time in dealing with customer complaints and the reimbursement of money following the return of goods.

The company which markets its products through a network of retail and direct sales outlets, both nationally and internationally stated that it had reformulated many of its products after receiving the laboratory test results. They were also ordered to pay $1.95 million in civil penalties, $100,000 in compensation to customers who were due refunds, and a further $600,000 in investigative costs.

The settlement did not require Irwin Naturals Inc to acknowledge either fault or liability. The company was ordered to label its products with warnings about lead content and reimburse customers for returns.