Opposition to Kathmandu stocking 'misleading' remedy

Concerns have been raised about outdoor gear store Kathmandu stocking a homeopathic remedy which claims to prevent jet lag.

Mark Hanna, chair of the Society for Science Based Healthcare, said it is a shame Kathmandu continues to stock No Jet Lag.

No Jet Lag is a homeopathic product which claims to counter jet lag without any side effects.

The objections come after a 2014 Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling that said No Jet Lag was being advertised misleadingly by using the phrase “it really works”.

Mr Hanna said despite the offending phrase being removed, the product’s name was still misleading two years later.

“There’s no plausible reason to think it would help [prevent jet lag], and there’s no good evidence it does, either,” Mr Hanna said.

“Particularly given its name, I'm not sure there is any way ‘No Jet Lag’ could be promoted without it being likely to mislead people,” he said.

A Kathmandu spokesperson Helen McCombie told Te Waha Nui in an email the company will continue to sell the product, as it does not break any laws to do so.

“The supplier of this product has informed us that they believe this falls within the legislative regulations,” they wrote.

Andrew Criglington, creator of No Jet Lag, said millions of No Jet Lag products being sold was proof that it worked.

“We’ve done clinical trials, we’ve been on the market for 20 years, it’s sold all around the world,” Mr Criglington said.

However, Mr Hanna said the studies performed on No Jet Lag may not be reliable.

“There were a lot of methodological problems . . . it doesn’t look like it was blinded very well, there was a very small sample size.”

The ASA Complaints Board also noted in 2014 the study tested only 19 people, had not been published in a peer-reviewed journal, and had been conducted by No Jet Lag itself.

Mr Hanna said his main concern was that Kathmandu stocking the product could give it some credibility, despite there being no evidence.

“I'm concerned that people who see it sold by a well-regarded company like Kathmandu may be misled to believe it is effective,” Mr Hanna wrote in an earlier email to Te Waha Nui.

Kathmandu spokesperson Helen McCombie said in an email the company was satisfied with the claims made by No Jet Lag.

“The company has completed clinical trials and believe that their product supports the promotional claim that they are making,” Ms McCombie wrote.