Paris (AFP) – An influential study claiming that drinking a small amount of apple cider vinegar every day helps people lose weight was retracted on Wednesday after an investigation found it contained multiple errors.
The small clinical trial, which was published in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health last year, is currently cited in many online articles touting the much-hyped health benefits of apple cider vinegar.
However, the study quickly attracted criticism from outside researchers, prompting the journal's publisher to launch an investigation.
The investigators found statistical errors and could not replicate the study's results, leading to it being retracted, the BMJ Group said in a statement.
The authors of the research, which was conducted in Lebanon, said in a statement the errors were "honest mistakes" but added that they agreed with the decision to retract.
Rosemary Stanton, an Australian public health nutritionist who criticised the study when it was first published, told AFP she was glad it had finally been retracted.
"We should have a healthy degree of scepticism to something that sounds too good to be true," she said.
After Netflix released a series called "Apple Cider Vinegar" in January about Australian wellness influencers, the common pantry item has become emblematic of unverified health claims promoted on social media.
Stanton added that some of apple cider vinegar's other supposed health benefits were also not supported by evidence.
Claims that it is a good source of nutrients such as potassium, calcium and magnesium are "false", she said.
"Because apple cider vinegar damages tooth enamel, if you do use it, always rinse your mouth thoroughly with water."
Stanton also lamented that many people no longer got nutrition advice from experts, but instead from unqualified influencers who often profit from promoting or selling products.