A company owned by Gillian McKeith, the star of Channel 4’s You Are What You Eat, has been ordered to withdraw two products after the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) discovered that it was advertising and selling goods without legal authorisation, while making medicinal claims about their efficacy.

The products, Fast Formula Wild Pink for women and Fast Formula Horny for men, which promised to boost sex drive and cure sexual dysfunction, have now been removed.

The MHRA determined that both products were medicines because of the presence of some well-known medicinal herbs and because of the claims being made by McKeith Research Ltd in their products.

Only licensed medicines may be advertised to the public.

Ms McKeith, 47, has become known for nit-picking about people’s diets on her television programme. But her credentials as a scientist have come under suspicion previously as she obtained a PhD from the non-accredited American Holistic College of Nutrition in the United States, which itself sells its own range of alternative health products online.

She was unavailable for comment through her agent last night.

A spokesman for the MHRA said that “there is no evidence of the products’ efficacy for the medicinal purpose for which they were advertised. The company may reapply for a medicine licence for these products but will have to prove that they conform to standards in safety, quality and efficacy.”

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