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TALLAHASSEE -- One of the nation's leading marketers of vitamins and food supplements will revise its marketing practices and offer refunds to settle allegations that it deceived consumers into buying outdated products, Attorney General Bob Butterworth announced today.

Butterworth said an agreement with General Nutrition Corporation (GNC) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will help ensure the freshness of products at GNC stores throughout the country.

"Our concern from the beginning was whether GNC customers were getting the fresh, full-potency products they were promised," he said. "This agreement establishes corporate policies to make sure they do."

With 388 locations in Florida, GNC markets a variety of vitamins and food supplements whose potency degrades over time. Despite advertising claims that the company's products were "the freshest supplements available," investigators from the attorney general's office purchased items at GNC stores that were as much as seven years old.

Under the agreement, GNC will begin a program designed to encourage all third-party vitamin and supplement manufacturers to place expiration dates on all products sold through GNC. For products that do not have expiration dates, GNC will assume responsibility for ascertaining the maker's stability testing period and removing the items from their shelves at the conclusion of that period.

The agreement also provides for full restitution, either through product replacement or refund, for all GNC consumers currently possessing expired products. Those customers with both an expired product and sales receipt for that product may obtain a cash refund at any GNC store. Those customers with an expired product but no receipt may obtain a product replacement at any GNC store. Consumers can find their nearest GNC store by calling GNC's store locator at 1-800-477-4462.

"The moment we raised concerns about product freshness at GNC stores, the company made every effort to rid its shelves of expired items and began to cooperate with our investigation," Butterworth said. "This agreement further demonstrates the company's desire to do right by its customers."

In addition to refunds and the new marketing policies, GNC agreed to pay $1 million to cover costs of the state's investigation and monitoring to assure compliance with the agreement.

The agreement was handled by Assistant Attorney General Lisa Raleigh with assistance from Financial Investigator Bruce Robinson.