~ Witness alleged that store owner has been removing expired labels from
supplements and replacing them with labels showing new expiration date ~
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that
his Economic Crimes Division has seized vitamin supplements from three
Broward County stores after learning the expiration labels on the
supplements may have been doctored. The Attorney General has also filed a
lawsuit against Gary Dubin, owner and operator of the three Vitamin Hut
stores, alleging Dubin knowingly removed expiration dates from vitamin
supplements and replaced them with altered expiration labels. The
supplements were seized under a court order intended to protect the
evidence for the lawsuit.
“Florida business owners need to adhere to our state’s standards for
fair business practices and any deliberate attempt to take advantage of
consumers will not be tolerated,” said Attorney General McCollum.
Vitamin Hut sells vitamin supplements and nonprescription
health-related supplies. The Economic Crimes Division became aware of the
situation when a Vitamin Hut employee contacted the Food and Drug
Administration about concerns over Dubin’s alleged behavior. An Economic
Crimes investigator subsequently made purchases of certain products from
all three Vitamin Hut locations and confirmed with manufacturers that the
true expiration dates of these items had been removed and/or altered.
Under a court order obtained earlier this week, the Economic Crimes
Division seized several boxes of supplements believed to have altered
labels and will safeguard the supplements as evidence to support the
allegations set forth in the lawsuit. The lawsuit has been filed under
Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and centers around
allegations that Dubin should not have marketed the supplements with
altered labels and that this behavior could violate the state’s standards
for fair business practices.
A copy of the lawsuit filed is available at:
http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-7BMJ9E/$file/VitaminHutComplaint.pdf
A copy of the judge’s order is available at:
http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-7BMJ9Y/$file/VitaminHutOrder.pdf
**South Florida media may contact the Attorney General’s
Communications Office to schedule an appointment to photograph or obtain
footage of the seized evidence at the Attorney General’s Ft. Lauderdale
Office. Photos are also available online at:
http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/KGRG-7BMJHP/$file/VitaminHut-A.jpg http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/KGRG-7BMJJ7/$file/VitaminHut-B.jpg
http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/KGRG-7BMJJD/$file/VitaminHut-C.jpg
