MLMSkeptic Investigates: Why is Valentus illegal in the UK? (it's the ingredients)

Recently, it was all over the news (cite 1) (cite 2) (cite 3) that former finalist for Miss England and FHM model Charlotte Thompson was "busted" selling 'slimming coffee' and got a visit from the UK Trading Standards Officers and told to stop her business.  She went online to vent. But what you won't find in these news articles is WHY did Trading Standards make a visit to her home?

MLMSkeptic investigates this little conundrum, by exploring what Valentus did in the aftermath passing blame, then check the sources from Valentus itself, and the statements by Ms. Thompson, then checking the relevant UK laws and interpretations, to see if there is ANY hope for Valentus, in UK, and in rest of Europe.

Recently, when forced to address the issue, Valentus corporate "Director of International Registration", Terry Recknor, gave a webinar.  Ms. Recknor initially blamed Ms. Thompson for spamming thousands of people, implying that was the reason for the visit from Trading Standards, but she soon dropped this bomb:

What you need to understand is, the products technically are illegal because we’re not registered yet.

This seems to imply that as soon as Valentus registered their products in the UK, then there would be no more problems. In the meanwhile, there are suggestions that recruitment in UK and rest of Europe are continuing as if nothing was wrong, despite warning from Ms. Thompson that dealing in Valentus is apparently illegal.

So, what is the truth? Let's investigate first, what does UK Trading Standards actually do?  In the case of their visit to Ms. Thompson, it is to offer:

• Business advice: Trading standards offer a range of business advice and enforcement policies for all traders and businesses. These range from issues regarding licensing to consumer protection laws.

So presumably, when you combine the various statements given by Ms. Thompson, Ms. Recknor, and explanations, one should conclude that

• Valentus SlimRoast coffee needs to be registered in UK
• Lack of registration is a violation of consumer protection laws
• Ms. Thompson's spam alerted Trading Standards to let her know

But is this true?  Searching UK Food Laws (Food Safety Act 1990, Food Standards Act 1999, and Food Hygiene Regulations 2006) brought up nothing about registering coffee or similar drink mixes and such.  There had to be a different reason.

Which brings us back to "consumer protection", and what other areas does that cover. This was made clear at a different Trading Standards page:

We make sure that people are not misled by claims, prices, descriptions and other selling techniques used by traders when they are selling goods and services.

As it wasn't about registration, let us investigate whether Valentus made any misleading claims. But what constitutes misleading claims under UK law? As SlimRoast is about weight loss, I googled "weight loss claim UK", and that brought me to Advertising Standard Authority, or asa.org.uk and their guidance on slimming guidelines for the press (PDF).

The Woo Files: MLM Viagra Coffee (no, I'm not kidding, and it's illegal)

There are all sorts of "fortified" coffee, containing all sorts of stuff that's allegedly good for you, from Asian mushrooms (Lingzhi) to various uber(woo) fruits like Acai berries, goji berries, to various forms of vitamins. So it's really no surprise when someone made coffee with allegedly "all natural herbs" to raise your libido, eh? 

Meet "Magic Power Coffee", world's first (and last?) aphrodisiac coffee.

Now, you may say, this is cute and stuff, but what does it have to do with MLM? Ah, but look at the words "income opportunity". Yes, this is a MLM.

Quoting from a recruitment website :

Start Your Magic Power Home Business Today Start as a Standard Associate for only $70.00 plus a one time $15.00 administration fee. Quickly break even, operate for FREE, and build your Home Based Business part time until it exceeds your primary income source

Furthermore:

The Magic Power Coffee Home Business Opportunity provides multiple income streams. They are covered below.

Personal Enrollments:
Each time a member joins the home business opportunity via your invitation you are awarded $15.00 to $45.00 depending upon their membership level... To keep it simple and free, enroll three.

Matrix:
When you introduce and invite others to become members they too establish their own Home Business. You are accredited through a 3 X 10 matrix system for those who fall within the three positions below you. ...

Matching Bonuses:
Matrix Bonuses are percentage matched down 6 generations of each individually sponsored member

Retail Sales:
Retail sales of Magic Power Coffee and the Magic Power Product line generate commissions...

Leadership Pool:
3% of the entire company product are sales set aside and distributed proportionately as you reach certain milestones. The Tour will explain this best, but the award amounts are substantial.

Thus, there is no doubt this is MLM, right? Except the product is ILLEGAL, as it is NOT all natural, as it claimed.