Supplements

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to share this. I may have mentioned before but I really like

reading Dr Andrew Weil articles and I buy some of his supplements. Well, I

attempted to call to ask a question about one of the supplements and discovered

something that I thought I'd share. I called the 1-800 # for Dr Weil

supplements and it came up as the company, Ideasphere (sp?) and then had choices

for four of their product lines, Nature's Earth, Alveda, TwinLab, and

Metabolife. I went to the operator because Dr Weil brand wasn't listed. She

explained that TwinLab is the Dr Weil brand. I guess I shouldn't be surprised

that its just some other company who sells it under his name but it ticks me off

because he perports his supplements are under greater standards/better

quality/etc....Its embarrassing to post that I fell for it but still felt I had

to share this info. TwinLab may be a good company, I really don't know, but I

certainly know that Metabolife is junk!

 

Also, here is an article from Consumer Reports Health (I LOVE CR so I really

hope nothing ruins my view of them too - LOL)....anyways, makes a person want to

avoid all supplements!!

 

FDA seizes filthy food and supplement ingredients

 

It's a nasty job, but somebody's got to do it. The Food and Drug Administration

announced today that it had U.S. Marshals seize more than $1.5 million worth of

food products, including herbs and botanicals used in supplements, from American

Mercantile Corporation, of Memphis, TN, because they were being stored in filthy

conditions.

 

The FDA inspection found that the ingredients, including cornstarch, licorice

powder, salt, sarsaparilla, sassafras, spearmint leaves, and sweet orange peels

powder, were being exposed to extensive insect and rodent infestation in the

building. The " FDA will not tolerate a company's failure to adequately control

and prevent filth in its facility, " said Michael Chappell, the FDA's acting

associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, in a statement.

 

Credit to the FDA where it's due—nobody wants rodent feces in their spearmint

tea. But the seizure comes shortly after USA Today, reported that the agency has

been failing in its overall inspection efforts in recent years. The paper

reported that " The FDA fell short of its goal in at least 17 of 39 states it

paid to do inspections in the 2007-08 contract year. " And the FDA did no audits

at all in five states.

 

You can find what American Mercantile describes as an incomplete product list at

their website.

—Kevin McCarthy, associate editor