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Lululemon Athletica is backing away from claims touting the health benefits of its seaweed-fibre clothing after concerns raised by the federal Competition Bureau.

The move came yesterday after several days of controversy for the Vancouver-based yoga wear chain prompted by a newspaper report that challenged the health benefits and whether the clothing even contains traces of seaweed minerals and nutrients.

Lululemon, a fast-growing retailer that has been a stock market darling since going public in the summer, agreed to remove the tags with the claims or cover them with a sticker until it can produce scientific evidence that they are true.

Andrea Rosen, the bureau's acting deputy commissioner, said the agency has also asked Lululemon to review all the claims it makes for materials in its other clothing.

The premium-priced chain tries to capitalize on consumers' rising interest in all things organic. It carries athletic wear that contains unusual materials such as bamboo, silver, charcoal, coconut and soybeans.

"We just want to make sure that when they are making these kinds of claims, that they have available scientific tests that will substantiate those claims," she said in an interview.

Labels on Lululemon's line of VitaSea shirts, which cost up to $59 each, say they reduce stress and provide anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hydrating and detoxifying benefits. The tags say the VitaSea clothing "releases marine amino acids, minerals and vitamins into the skin upon contact with moisture."

The bureau isn't the only federal body to raise concerns. Health Canada has also waded into the seaweed fibre affair, asking Lululemon to show scientific data to support its claims.

"Generally speaking, products marketed in Canada that make health claims must have those claims validated by Health Canada to ensure that the health and safety of Canadians is protected," Health Canada spokesman Joey Rathwell said.

Robert Meers, chief executive officer at Lululemon, said in an interview that it will take "corrective" action — probably by covering the claims on its product tags with stickers — until it can produce the research.

Smartfiber AG, the German-based company that makes the seaweed fibre, called SeaCell, is retesting Lululemon seaweed shirts, he said. "I do feel that we're not in crisis because I do believe that Smartfiber has given us enough verbal validation that I don't think we're going to find a surprise," Mr. Meers said.

Lululemon has been in the centre of the storm since Wednesday when a New York Times report raised doubts about the chain's VitaSea line of shirts.

Shares of Lululemon were battered during much of Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange before recovering. They fell again on Thursday and closed down yesterday 30 cents at $40.50.

The Times had commissioned a laboratory test of a Lululemon shirt that found no "significant difference in mineral levels between the VitaSea fabric and cotton T-shirts. The shirt tested was labelled as being made of 24 per cent of the seaweed fibre, 70 per cent cotton and 6 per cent spandex.

Ms. Rosen said yesterday that the bureau is satisfied that the VitaSea shirts contain the amount of seaweed fibre that it claims to contain. But the regulatory agency wants the retailer to back up "unsubstantiated" health claims.

Lululemon has also agreed to remove all references to the VitaSea technology from its Web site and in-store advertising. And it agreed "immediately" to inform store managers and employees — called educators by Lululemon — not to provide information on VitaSea's "therapeutic benefits and performance claims."

She said the bureau is looking at health claims made by other companies. In August, it took action against an Ontario company called Sunveil Sunwear that said its clothing provided more protection from ultraviolet rays than it actually did. The company removed the claims from its tags.

Mr. Meers said the seaweed controversy had not hurt sales at Lululemon's 70 stores in Canada and the United States. The bureau decision does not apply to the retailer's 30 U.S. outlets.

SeaCell is one of many so called eco-fabrics that have become popular with fashion designers and clothing makers. Most major manufacturers have a "green line" of clothes, and several designers are insisting on fabric that includes organic fibres made from seaweed, bamboo, soybean and corn.

Like Smartfiber, many other fibre makers also claim their product offers health benefits. For example, bamboo fibre T-shirts are "naturally anti-bacterial, biodegradable" and have "natural anti-ultraviolet properties," according to some manufacturers. One soybean fabric maker said the product contains "18 kinds of active materials which are necessary to [the] human body."

In an interview this week, Gerhard Neudorfer, the marketing director for SeaCell at Smartfiber, said the company tests fabrics made with its product to verify the health claims.

"We sell a product with special behaviour and therefore we test our product carefully," he said.