The answer must be "yes" because the ads never stop.

I was especially revolted by a recent full-page newspaper ad introducing "Akävar 20/50," which began with the large-print headline, "Eat all you want and still lose weight!" and then followed up that doozie with, "And we couldn't say it in print if it wasn't true."

The advertisement went on to call the product "a major medical breakthrough" and, finally, included the obligatory outsized picture of an attractive young woman, whose relationship to the product, if any, was not described.

Of course, none of these statements is true. It is impossible to eat all you want and lose weight; and leading newspapers admit they pay no attention to the content of the ads they publish. Thus, pushers of fake weight-loss products can print whatever lies their senses of shame will permit. Major medical breakthroughs are in fact uncommon and, certainly, this product is not one of them.

Not surprisingly, the advertisers don't mention the composition of their product or exactly how it is supposed to work. Akävar apparently reduces appetite, but is also said (alarmingly) "to literally pull fat from all over your body." And you can get these benefits for only $39.99, for a two-month's supply.

Also mentioned in the ad is a study in which 23 out of 24 participants who used Akävar's "active compound" (whatever that may be) lost weight. My calls to the company to find where this study is published led to a runaround that left me without this information.

Soon after my dealings with the folks at Akävar, I came across a less-dramatic advertisement that mentioned something called "fucoxanthin," the active component of a weight-loss product called FucoTHIN. According to this ad, the "fucoxanthin contained in FucoTHIN actually burns fat."

I had never heard of fucoxanthin and so I searched online to verify its existence and fat-burning abilities. Sure enough, fucoxanthin is a carotenoid that gives the color to brown algae. A recent Japanese study, published in the reputable scientific journal Biochemical Biophysical Research Communications, found that feeding this carotenoid to mice or rats diminished the fat content in their bodies and stimulated the burning of fat.

Sounds good — and it's not surprising that FucoTHIN outperformed all five competitors mentioned, since the ad was paid for by FucoTHIN's manufacturer. But does fucoxanthin work in people? And, if so, how much is needed to burn enough fat for weight loss? And is it safe? Who knows?

If you are interested in reading glowing reviews of other equally worthless weight-loss products, you can check out "the Top 10 Best Diet Pills!." (Ironically, ConsumerPriceWatch's diet-pill raters found that Akävar 20/50 "scored poorly on Overall Value and Weight Loss Power."

A much more useful site is one hosted by the Federal Trade Commission and the Competition Bureau of Canada, which first sucks visitors in with fake ads for an eggplant extract (called "FatFoe") that supposedly burns fat, but which then educates consumers about diet rip-offs. According to the FatFoe Web site, a product is probably a diet rip-off if its advertisements promise that:

• it can "burn" — or block absorption of —f ats, carbohydrates, or calories
• it can make you lose more than three pounds per week
• it will work for everyone
• it will cause you to lose weight permanently
• it's a patch, cream, gel, etc., that can help you lose weight

Such bogus ads will usually also promise that you can eat all your favorite, high-calorie foods and still lose weight, and that you will be able to lose weight without having to diet or exercise.

I would only add to this useful list any advertisement stating that a product is either "guaranteed" or a "breakthrough." The only thing you're guaranteed to lose is your money.