The Federal Trade Commission announced charges against two companies it said made false and unsubstantiated claims about the health benefits and safety of the supplement, Seasilver. U.S. marshals took possession of the supplement stocks Tuesday at the request of the Food and Drug Administration.

The FTC said the Carlsbad, Calif.-based companies, Americaloe Inc. and Seasilver USA Inc., promoted the liquid supplement as a safe treatment or cure for 650 diseases, including AIDS, Lyme disease, various cancers and diabetes in nine out of 10 patients. The companies also claimed Seasilver could produce substantial and permanent weight loss without dieting, the FTC alleged.

The companies' owners, the principal distributor and a person who claimed to be an expert were also charged with making false and unsubstantiated claims about the health benefits and safety of Seasilver.

FDA commissioner Mark McClellan said, "This is the sort of intolerable health fraud I had in mind when I announced six months ago that the FDA will take vigorous actions against firms that prey on consumers and patients by selling worthless dietary supplements as cures for serious and chronic diseases and conditions."

The FTC said the companies promoted the supplement with national television and radio infomercials, Web sites, spam e-mails and a 28-page brochure. The FTC alleges that the claims made in the promotional materials "go beyond the existing scientific evidence on any of the ingredients contained in the product."

The FTC and FDA are working together on the case as part of Operation Cure.all, an international effort to root out and prevent fraudulent marketing of health-related products.

The FDA has cited Seasilver USA in the past for sanitation problems at the company's production facility.

Neither of the companies could be reached Thursday evening.

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On the Net:

FTC: http://www.ftc.gov

FDA: http://www.fda.gov

Seasilver USA: http://www.seasilver.com

AP-ES-06-19-03 2004EDT