Case #252-2026: Administrative Closure – Medifast, Inc.

BBB NATIONAL PROGRAMS

Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council
Case #252-2026: Administrative Closure – Medifast, Inc.

 



Company Description

Medifast Inc. (“Medifast” or “the Company”) is a health and wellness company founded in 1981 with headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. The Company specializes in weight-management programs and meal-replacement products, operating primarily through its OPTAVIA brand, which combines nutritional products with coaching-based lifestyle programs. The Company utilizes a direct selling business model, marketing its products through a network of independent coaches.



Basis of Inquiry

The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (“DSSRC”), a national advertising self-regulation program administered by BBB National Programs, initiated this inquiry as part of its ongoing, independent monitoring of advertising and marketing claims within the direct selling industry.

This matter pertained to nine claims disseminated on Facebook and Instagram. DSSRC expressed its concern that the claims conveyed messages suggesting that a typical Medifast salesforce member could achieve significant income, including representations of “financial freedom” and the ability to earn full-time income. DSSRC was concerned that such claims may communicate unsupported expectations regarding the income that would be generally expected through participation in the Medifast business opportunity.

The representative earnings claims set forth below formed the basis of this inquiry:

  1. Screenshots of monthly bonuses with copy stating “My first two week bonus as an Optavia coach landed me $544.57. After my 2nd month it was $1356.06. That doesn't count my commission.”  (October 2024) 
  2. Screenshots of monthly bonuses with copy stating “This was almost 4 years ago…just part-time…and with no other organization members!! I worked for this myself! By the end of that year, that monthly bonus was $5,500!...an extra $500-$1000 for many of you might be super helpful for your family, right?” (October 2024) 
  3. Screenshot of monthly bonuses with copy stating “Optavia pays us 5 times a month, once a week and a bonus once a month!!! Here is a snapshot of my first week and a monthly payout as a coach in March of 2018, this is over 6.5 years ago…an extra $500 or $1000 would be super helpful for your family right???” (October 2024) 
  4. “My payout as a coach in May 2023 was a bit over 2k and has stayed steady, but sometimes has grown since  hen!... Since I’ve started coaching, not only have we been able to save money, but we have taken some great trips and paid off some major debt . Stanley actually just had a surgery that I could pay cash for and not put on my credit card. And for many of you an extra $500 or $1000 would be super helpful for your family right???”  (October 2024) 
  5. “I was asked last week how much I made coaching. Answer? 6 figures. And I was earning that just after 10 months of coaching. It boggles my mind how much I get paid for what I love to do and it NEVER feels like work. One thing I love the most about this mission is helping other coaches find financial freedom.”  (November 2025)  
  6. “Flexible work schedule, unlimited income potential, 1:1 mentorship, a fun community, and even some travel adventures!” (January 2025)  
  7. “WORK REMOTELY: WHERE you choose!
    WORK HOURS: WHEN you choose!
    $$: Unlimited income potential!
    No college degree required!
    COACH LIKE A BOSS!”  (October 2022)  
  8. “You can do it from anywhere with just your phone, whether you want a flexible “side gig” or a full-time business, the potential is real and so is the freedom that comes with it.” (September 2025)
  9. “I never planned to build a business. 🤷🏼‍♀️ 
    But within a couple months I was hooked. I was watching lives change, including our own, and I was earning $2,000 a month. At the time that was life changing for us. 😭… 
    Recently our company recognized us for earning 15 million dollars in ten years.
    We have been able to: 
    ❤️ Support 40 children in Africa every month with schooling, food, and housing, including one we pay to live in a special home to protect as she is considered highly valuable as a sacrifice to those in the accult. 🥹
    ❤️ Pay for numerous missionaries to spread the gospel across the world including missionaries salaries.  
    ❤️ Provide the best memory care facility for Andy’s mom when she needed it. 
    ❤️Send pastors, family, and friends to Israel on a life changing trip.
    ❤️Gift fully paid vacations to families and ministers who needed a break. 
    ❤️ Send a friend’s child to private school.
    ❤️ Provide jobs and income for multiple families outside Optavia.
    ❤️Pay for kids to attend church camp that can't afford it.
    ❤️ Provide Christmas for families in need every year.
    ❤️Pay for handicapped vans for special needs families.
    ❤️Pay for meals and gifts for every special needs family we meet at restaurants and Disney.
    ❤️Bless single moms, widows, caregivers, cancer fighters, and families in crisis.
    ❤️ Support our local church.
    ❤️Given millions away as the Lord leads.”
    (November 2025) 





Company Position

Medifast appreciated DSSRC’s review of this matter and emphasized that it is committed to ensuring that members of its independent salesforce promote the company’s business opportunity accurately and responsibly. After receiving DSSRC’s inquiry, the Company conducted an internal review of the referenced social media posts and coordinated with the salesforce members responsible for disseminating the posts to have the content removed.

As a result of these efforts, all nine of the identified posts were removed shortly after DSSRC’s notice.

The Company also provided DSSRC with a summary of its existing compliance monitoring and education programs and maintained that it was committed to promoting accurate and substantiated representations of the Medifast business opportunity.



Administratively Closed Resolution

Through its compliance and outreach efforts, Medifast facilitated the removal of all nine social media posts at issue in this inquiry. DSSRC acknowledged the Company’s good-faith actions to address DSSRC’s concerns and determined that Medifast’s response under the circumstances was appropriate and consistent with self-regulatory expectations.

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Business Guidance Concerning Multi-Level Marketing provides that earnings claims must reflect what participants can generally expect to earn. The FTC has cautioned that representations highlighting the potential for significant income are often not indicative of the results achieved by typical participants and, if not properly qualified, may mislead consumers.1 The FTC Guidance further explains that atypical income or lifestyle claims must be supported by competent and reliable evidence demonstrating that the represented results are typical. In the absence of such substantiation—and without clear and conspicuous disclosures regarding generally expected earnings—aspirational or high-level income claims may create a misleading impression of the opportunity.2

Consistent with this framework, DSSRC’s Guidance on Earnings Claims for the Direct Selling Industry advises companies and their salesforce members to refrain from using statements or imagery that suggest income levels beyond what an average participant could reasonably expect to achieve. DSSRC has identified the term “financial freedom” as particularly susceptible to consumer misinterpretation.3 Prior DSSRC decisions have found that aspirational language, when presented without adequate explanation or qualification, may reasonably be interpreted as a promise of substantial or life-changing income.4

In light of the Company’s demonstrated efforts to have all social media posts identified in the inquiry removed, as well as documentation showing sincere and good-faith steps taken to address DSSRC’s concerns, DSSRC concluded that it was appropriate to administratively close the matter.



Conclusion

DSSRC appreciated Medifast’s prompt and good-faith cooperation in addressing the earnings claims identified in this inquiry. Based on the Company’s prompt actions to remove all nine of the posts identified in this inquiry and its continued commitment to ensuring that earnings representations accurately reflect generally expected results, DSSRC determined that the matter was appropriately resolved through administrative closure.



Company Statement 

“Medifast appreciates DSSRC’s dedication to monitoring the direct selling industry and the opportunity to engage in a productive and informative dialogue. Our education and monitoring system supports coaches and encourages realistic communication about OPTAVIA’s opportunities. We have required our coaches to remove the posts identified by DSSRC, and commit to continued evaluation of our compliance tools and processes.”

 

(Case #252, closed on 3/10/26)
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[1] See Fed. Trade Comm’n, Business Guidance Concerning Multi-Level Marketing, Section 13 (April 2024) https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/business-guidance-concerning-multi-level-marketing#deceptive.

[2] Id.

[3] Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council, Guidance on Earnings Claims for the Direct Selling Industry, Section 6(A)(2022).

[4] See DSSRC Case #51-2023: LifeWave, Inc. (June 2023).