SlimFast is an American company headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, that markets an eponymous brand of shakes, bars, snacks, packaged meals, and other dietary supplement foods sold in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latin America, and the UK. SlimFast promotes diets and weight loss plans featuring its food products.
There is mixed evidence on the effectiveness of the diet, although it appears to function no better than behavioral counseling.[1]
History
SlimFast was started in July 1977 as a product line of the Thompson Medical Company, founded in the 1940s by S. Daniel Abraham. The product was rolled out nationwide in a marketing campaign that began on July 11, 1977 for "a fat-free, carbohydrate-free, animal-based fortified cherry-flavored protein supplement formula" that promised to make purchasers "feel better, cleaner, stronger and healthier.[2]
Thompson Medical also sold the controversial weight loss dietary supplement Dexatrim.[3]