AFTER SANCTIONS AGAINST SEASILVER AND CORAL CALCIUM, WHAT’S NEXT?

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http://askbillsardi.com/sdm.asp?pg=news & specific=66

 

06/24/2003

Open letter to the natural products industry

AFTER SANCTIONS AGAINST SEASILVER AND CORAL CALCIUM, WHAT’S NEXT?

THE DIETARY SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY BEGS TO BE REGULATED WITH ONEROUS NEW

LEGISLATION

 

Bill Sardi

Knowledge of Health, Inc.

 

I was recently invited to attend a meeting to mull over the establishment of

quality standards for dietary supplements. At the last moment, I decided not to

attend. The reason: the natural products industry has been infected with a

self-induced plague it has no desire to cure and the industry is likely to be

doomed because of this.

 

 

 

There are too many marginal dietary supplements that fail to withstand the

scrutiny of scientific review. And there are too many dietary supplements that

make bogus health claims beyond what is permitted by the Food & Drug

Administration. Two of these products, SeaSilver and Coral Calcium were recently

sanctioned by the Federal Trade Commission. Sea Silver was reported to have

reached annual sales of $180 million a year, selling over 4.5 million bottles of

what has been called “the discovery of the century.” While the gullibility of

the public to fall for the outlandish health claims is astonishing, there was no

hesitancy by health food stores, producers of brand name food supplements, nor

even mass market stores like Walmart, to display and sell these products of

marginal value.

 

It’s not like the vitamin companies didn’t know about the bogus health claims

attached to these products, but the profits were obviously so enticing nearly

every company wanted to get in on the action. Look-alike coral and silver

products abound.

 

What the FTC looks for in health claims for dietary supplements is “competent

and reliable scientific evidence.” (See reference #1 below for the entire

wording from the FTC.) Neither did any radio or TV station screen the claims

made by these purveyors of “snake oil.” The “as seen on TV” credibility factor

pushed Coral Calcium through to the stores and online vendors.

 

 

 

How has the natural products industry responded? The founder of one major

vitamin company said his company didn’t have any exposure to FTC sanctions

because his coral product didn’t make any questionable health claims. Yes, but

public demand for the product was drummed up by these factitious claims. What

kind of trust can the public have in companies that offer products that aren’t

scientifically valid? An executive who is responsible for a raw materials trade

show saw no problem with continuing to allow purveyors of silver and coral

products to exhibit their products.

 

So now what’s going to happen? It’s real simple, the news media is going to roll

out their cameras at upcoming trade shows and in health food stores to reveal

how the natural products industry continues to brazenly market these bogus

products (sans the unsubstantiated health claims of course). And all this will

be used to push for the passage in Congress of Senate Bill S.722, the

legislation that will force onerous rules upon dietary supplements.

 

S.722 says that a safety review can be conducted by the Secretary of Health &

Human Welfare if just “one or more serious adverse events indicates that a

dietary supplement or a dietary ingredient contained in a dietary supplement

appears to present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness.” But wait a

minute, no substance (even tap water) is absolutely safe and just one

questionable adverse reaction could prompt a costly safety review and worldwide

headlines that a product is under review!

 

Furthermore, any dietary supplement deemed to be a stimulant, that is, a product

that speeds up metabolism or increases the heart rate, shall be subject to

preapproval before it can be marketed.

[http://www.theorator.com/bills108/s722.html] Wow, any product that contains

caffeine or any other metabolic stimulant could have to undergo safety tests.

 

 

 

Forget trying to successfully block S.722. The cat is out of the bag. In its

greed for profits, the dietary supply industry has betrayed the public trust and

is not likely to overcome S.722 when it continues to embrace marginal if not

totally worthless products. The industry doesn’t have the gumption to cleanse

itself. While I urge every citizen to oppose this legislation, it is going to be

difficult to mount credible opposition given industry’s embarrassing situation

regarding coral and silver products. The industry looks like and smells like

“snake oil” salesmen! To make matters worse, the incorrigible marketers of coral

calcium have established another company, posted a new website, and have

produced another radio commercial, within days of the FTC sanctions. SeaSilver

distributors claim they will be back in business shortly after they sanitize

their label. Yikes!

 

And in Europe, the Foods Standards Agency is ready to limit the dosage of

vitamins and minerals in vitamin pills to paltry levels. Then trade agrements

are likely to be invoked to harmonize dietary supplements so they only prevent

known deficiency diseases like beri beri and scurvy. Optimal doses of nutrients

that prevent Alzheimer’s (folic acid), high blood pressure (vitamin B6, vitamin

C, lipoic acid) or cataracts (vitamin C, lipoic acid) will simply not be

convenient or affordable to consume.

 

The dietary supplement industry has no high ground to stand upon. Pogo was

right. We have met the enemy, and he is us.

 

Bill Sardi

Knowledge of Health, Inc.

June, 2003

 

Copyright 2003 Not for reproduction or posting on websites. Not for commercial

use.

 

Reference #1: The FTC typically requires claims about the efficacy or safety of

dietary supplements to be supported with " competent and reliable scientific

evidence, " defined in FTC cases as " tests, analyses, research, studies, or other

evidence based on the expertise of professionals in the relevant area, that have

been conducted and evaluated in an objective manner by persons qualified to do

so, using procedures generally accepted in the profession to yield accurate and

reliable results. " This is the same standard the FTC applies to any industry

making health-related claims. There is no fixed formula for the number or type

of studies required or for more specific parameters like sample size and study

duration. There are, however, a number of considerations to guide an advertiser

in assessing the adequacy of the scientific support for a specific advertising

claim. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/dietsupp.htm\

 

 

 

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