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A Coffee Bean Controversy

SCRANTON — A few years ago, two professors from the University of Scranton published a study that claimed green coffee bean extract could help you lose we...

SCRANTON -- A few years ago, two professors from the University of Scranton published a study that claimed green coffee bean extract could help you lose weight.

After the study, the tv show Dr. Oz supported the product causing a spike in sales.

The Federal Trade Commission thought it was too good to be true and filed a lawsuit against a company that sold those weight loss supplements. The FTC won the lawsuit.

So, those professors retracted that study.

Professor Joe Vinson, Ph.D. and Bryan Burnham, Ph.D. published the study a few years ago based on data from a different researcher.

The FTC won a lawsuit against a company who sponsored the study, claiming that the facts were skewed by that lead researcher.

The university released this statement: "The University of Scranton supports and encourages faculty research. The research study referenced was conducted by three parties. The role of University of Scranton professors was to analyze research results and data provided to them by the lead researcher in India. University professors had no part in data collection and have cooperated fully with the investigation of the study. "

Newswatch 16 spoke with a coffee expert in Throop.

The owner of Electric City Roasting,  Mary Tellie, said coffee makers never really believed the weight loss hype. "Within the coffee industry itself, it was pretty much a non-starter."

The expert said she uses green coffee beans everyday.

She said, depending on the way you roast them, coffee beans could have more caffeine, she doesn't think high caffeine equals weight loss.

"I would chalk it up to one more study that's given to the end user or the consumer that's confusing them about the whole idea and the story of coffee," said Tellie.

At Everything Natural in Clarks Summit, employees said the green coffee bean extract supplement is a top-selling item.

"They're buying bottle after bottle after bottle, so if they're not losing weight, why would they be buying it? So, obviously it's helping them," said Kelly Baker, a manager at the store.

She said people have been buying the product for years and even though the study was retracted, the store doesn't plan to get rid of the item.

"Everything that we have, we plan on keeping on the shelf," said Baker.

Newswatch 16 tried to reach out to the two professors involved in the study, but they were not available for comment.

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