Touting 'fast burn' and 'slimming bulletproof' with only coffee powder: Ali Health Pharmacy hints ordinary coffee aids weight loss

Baidu-Xinwang (official account of Qingdao Peninsula Xinwang Network Media)

The product’s ingredient list contains only coffee powder. (Source: respondent)

The promotional page prints “fast burn.” (Source: respondent)

Xinwang · Signal News, October 9 — Drawn by the eye-catching words “fast burn” and “reduced-burn bulletproof” on the promotional page, on September 28, Mr. Li from Baoding, Hebei, ordered three boxes of “Niulian Blue Mountain black coffee” from Alibaba Health Pharmacy on Taobao. After receiving it, he found the product had no “blue hat” health-food mark, its ingredient list contained only coffee powder, and it was an ordinary solid beverage. He believed the merchant was “attributing therapeutic effects” to an ordinary food and adding weight-loss-related wording on the ad page, suspected of false advertising.

Mr. Li told Signal News (0532-80889431) that on Taobao’s Alibaba Health Pharmacy product page, this “Niulian Blue Mountain black coffee” had sold over 40,000 units with more than 20,000 reviews; the poster prominently marked weight-loss terms like “fast burn” and “reduced-burn bulletproof,” and the comment section had many netizens claiming to have drunk the coffee posting their weight and waistline changes. Mr. Li said that seeing the above promotion, he believed the product had weight-loss efficacy, so he bought three boxes on September 28 for 34.9 yuan.

After receiving the physical product, Mr. Li found the black coffee packaging had no “blue hat” health-food mark, and the ingredient list contained only coffee powder. “Can a solid beverage have a ‘fast burn’ effect?” With this doubt, Mr. Li found Alibaba Health Pharmacy’s online customer service, whose reply was “it is effective, dear.” Mr. Li demanded “refund one, compensate three”; customer service said a specialist would reply later.

To verify the coffee’s weight-loss “efficacy,” Signal News called the consultation hotline printed on the product’s outer packaging; the operator said this is the manufacturer’s after-sales line, and for product efficacy please contact the platform customer service that sells the product. Signal News checked materials and learned that Fang Yi, director of the Endocrinology Department at the Fifth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital, said in a media interview that from a medical perspective, black coffee contains caffeine, which can promote adrenaline secretion and briefly raise metabolic rate, with a function of consuming fat. But in real life, its weight-loss efficacy is minimal.

Qichacha platform information shows that Anhui Congrentang Biotechnology Co., Ltd., which produces this black coffee, was once administratively penalized by market regulators for food and food-additive labels and instructions not complying with regulations; in the April 2025 daily supervision information notice of the Food Production Supervision Division of the Anhui Provincial Market Supervision Administration, the company was ordered to “rectify.” Signal News contacted Taobao platform customer service about this; the agent said staff would reply within 24 hours, and as of press time, Signal News had received no relevant reply.

Liu Guojian, a member of Signal News’ lawyer expert pool and a lawyer at Shandong Chenggong Law Firm, analyzed that the involved product is an ordinary solid beverage, not a health food, and ordinary food may not explicitly or implicitly suggest weight-loss or fat-burning health effects. The merchant’s “fast burn” and “reduced-burn bulletproof” are self-created marketing terms that easily mislead consumers into understanding the product can reduce fat and slim down. Consumers may claim refund-one-compensate-three under the PRC Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests. (Signal News reporter)

Buyers’ comments. (Source: respondent)

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