Multivitamin Mishaps (harm your health)
New Report Finds That More Than Half of the Supplements Tested Fall Short of Their Claims
Jan. 22, 2007— If you're like millions of Americans who take a multivitamin every day "just to be sure," you may have new reasons to doubt what's inside that pill or capsule.
A report just released by ConsumerLab.com revealed that more than half of the multivitamins tested did not contain what the label claimed: Either the nutrient levels fell short or exceeded what was safe.
Of the 21 brands of multivitamins the researchers randomly selected off store shelves and tested, only 10 met the stated claims on the label or satisfied other quality standards.
Most "shocking" was the amount of lead found in one multivitamin, said Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com, a White Plains, N.Y., company that independently evaluates dietary supplements.
The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women was found to contain 15.3 micrograms of lead per serving. Cooperman said this is more than 10 times the amount of lead permitted without a warning label in California — the only state to regulate lead in supplements.
Too Much of a Good Thing
Excess lead may be particularly damaging to pregnant women and young children.
Cooperman believes the contamination may be attributed to the herbs used in the supplement, but "we've not heard from Vitamin Shoppe," he said.
The second most "disturbing" finding, said Cooperman, was the amount of vitamin A found in a multivitamin for children.
Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears contained 216 percent of the labeled amount of vitamin A, delivering amounts that exceeded what's been defined as an "upper tolerable level" for children. Too much vitamin A can weaken bones and cause liver damage.
Each serving provided 5,400 international units of vitamin A in the retinol form, which is substantially more than the upper tolerable level of 2,000 IUs for children ages 1 to 3, and 3,000 IUs for children ages 4 to 8.
Judy Blatman, vice president of communications for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association that represents the dietary supplements industry, had not seen the full report but she questioned the findings.
(Read More...)
Source: abcnews.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:Steven Fink 626-683-9333 sfink@lexiconcorp.com
THE VITAMIN SHOPPE VOLUNTARILY REMOVES “ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN” MULTIVITAMIN; STANDS BEHIND QUALITY AND SAFETY OF ITS PRODUCTS
NORTH BERGEN, NJ – [January 23, 2007] – The Vitamin Shoppe®, one of the nation’s largest and most trusted retailers of vitamins and nutritional supplements, today confirmed that last Friday it voluntarily removed its “Especially for Women” multivitamin product from store shelves and its internet sales site due to allegations that there are trace quantities of lead in excess of California labeling requirements in the product.
“The health, safety and peace of mind of our customers are The Vitamin Shoppe’s top priorities. All Vitamin Shoppe products are manufactured in compliance with the Food and Drug Administration’s Good Manufacturing Practices for food and highest industry standards” said Tom Tolworthy, company CEO. “In order to assure that we have all of the information needed, we have asked our contract manufacturer and an independent scientific lab to conduct separate tests. Our efforts to more fully investigate these allegations have been hampered by the unwillingness of the company making the allegations to share its complete results and testing methodology with us. Using a scientifically valid testing methodology is absolutely necessary to achieve reliable results.”
The Vitamin Shoppe’s own exacting standards involve testing every shipment of raw materials before the manufacturing process even begins, strict checks and record keeping during each step of the manufacturing process, and testing of every finished product before it is released for sale. Responsible companies, such as The Vitamin Shoppe, constantly test for material identity and microbiological contamination -- and to confirm safe levels of heavy metals such as lead.
Despite these safeguards, Vitamin Shoppe has chosen to exercise the utmost caution on behalf of its customers by voluntarily and temporarily removing “Especially for Women” multivitamins from its store shelves, catalog and internet site, and is offering full refunds to any concerned customers. Vitamin Shoppe customers who have questions are asked to call the company’s toll free hotline: 1-866-293-3365.
Founded in 1977, The Vitamin Shoppe, one of the nation’s largest vitamin and nutritional supplement chains, operates over 300 stores from coast-to-coast, and also distributes its products on its internet site www.vitaminshoppe.com and by catalog.
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