The family behind high-profile vitamins company Swisse has hit back at ABC TV’s consumer show The Checkout, with the father of the company’s chief executive claiming he was ‘‘severely injured in his reputation and standing’’ by the program.

In a writ filed with the Victorian Supreme Court on April 26, Avni Sali, the father of Swisse chief executive Radek Sali, claims that The Checkout defamed him by saying he ‘‘manipulated’’ clinical tests of a Swisse appetite suppressant to benefit the company.

In the segment, broadcast on March 21, presenter Craig Reucassel is seen saying the case of Swisse’s product ‘‘highlights everything that’s wrong with the regulation of natural medicines in Australia’’.

Reucassel, his Chaser colleague Julian Morrow, who also appears on and produces The Checkout, executive producer Nick Murray and the ABC are named as defendants.