I’m in throes of wrapping up a major project, so – while I was aware of the Dietary Supplement Safety Act (natch!) – I missed blogging about it (I wanted to read the text first, but couldn’t spare the time).

But it looks like Senator McCain just made this a moot point.

A Senate staffer confirmed that Sen. John McCain no longer supports a bill he introduced to significantly tighten regulatory requirements for dietary supplements.

McCain offered the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010, S. 3002, in February. The Arizona Republican will now collaborate with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, on revised legislation that allegedly provides for transparency and safety within the supplement industry but without the intensive regulatory intervention proposed in S. 3002. No timeline is set for introduction of a new bill.

Hatch thanks McCain for withdrawing his support of the original legislation in a March 4 letter.

“I’m counting on you to work with me to make sure this important industry does not fall prey to over-regulatory regimes and mounds of costly government bureaucracy,” Hatch writes.

Works for me. Personally, I don’t see anything majorly wrong with the existing regulatory framework.  As I see it, the primary problem is lax/uneven enforcement – a problem that would not be solved by giving the FDA even more power over the industry.

You don’t spit into the wind,
You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim.

Jim Croce

In this case, “Jim” = Judge Robert Gettleman.  And he’s none too happy with our good buddy, infomercial scam artiste and all-around shyster Kevin Trudeau. Why?

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You know the rest of the saying, of course.

What amazes me, however, is the number of people who apparently DON’T know it.  ‘Take this recent FTC case, against the marketers of “Chinese Green Diet Tea” and the “Bio-Slim Patch,” for example.

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The company actually got off pretty easily: a $500,000 fine vs. $5.6 million in revenue.

And I don’t mean from a nutritional perspective, either… A recent investigation by USA Today came up with some pretty disturbing findings.

Airport restaurants packed with holiday travelers have been cited in the past year for hundreds of food safety violations, local health department reports show.

A USA TODAY review of inspection records for nearly 800 restaurants at 10 airports found items such as tuna salad and turkey sandwiches stored at dangerously warm temperatures, raw meat contaminating ready-to-eat foods, rat droppings and kitchens lacking soap for workers to wash hands.

Serious violations, which can increase the risk of illness, are common. On the most recent inspections available online, 42% of 57 restaurants reviewed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had at least one “critical” violation. So did 77% of 35 restaurants reviewed at Reagan National Airport.

Urrrrgh - I’ve eaten at Sea-Tac on several occasions too, although only at one restaurant (Ivar’s), where my food was cooked to order.  But from now on, I think I’ll just stick to protein bars, nuts, jerky (which I can stuff in my purse) and commercial food products packaged outside the airport (like yogurt and cottage cheese) when I fly.  Not ideal, but going without meals for a few hours beats enduring a bout of food poisoning in a crowded plane.

According to the China Post…

The Bureau of Health Promotion (BHP) is drafting a bill to charge special tax on food that are considered unhealthy, such as sugary drinks, candies, cakes, oily fast food, and alcohol.According to the BHP Director General Shu Ti-chiou, the proposal aims to promote a healthier eating habit.

…The BHP is expecting the Legislative Yuan to approve it by the end of next year and to enact the tariff in 2011.

If passed, Taiwan could be the first country with a “junk food” tax, local reporters said.

I’ll be curious to see the details on this: how much the proposed tax will be, the specific foods/products it will be applied to, what the money will be used for, and – most importantly - the effects the BHP believes it will have on consumption.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has a new site dedicated to its latest crusade: getting supplements containing “designer steroids” and illegal stimulants off the market.  Called “Supplement Safety Now,” the organization (a non-governmental agency responsible for implementing the World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines in the US), is currently lobbying Congress for substantial changes in how the FDA regulates dietary supplements.

Specific Proposals

Pre-Market Enhancements

• All dietary supplement companies should be required to register as “dietary supplement companies” so that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can identify them.
• Dietary supplement companies should provide the FDA with a comprehensive list of all dietary supplements they manufacture with a copy of the master formulas and product labels.
• Dietary supplement companies should provide a 75-day pre-market notice to the FDA not only for New Dietary Ingredients, but for all products containing steroids (including hormones, pro-hormones and hormone analogues) and must establish that the product is safe under its intended use.
• Dietary supplement companies should be required to maintain a substantiation file that is available on request to the FDA.
• Distributors and retailers of dietary supplements should obtain evidence of compliance from the manufacturers and licensors that all pre-market requirements have been complied with or bear responsibility for the products they sell as if they were the manufacturer.

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This time, it’s the “Health Man” and associates, who were peddling the “7 Day Miracle Cleanse Program.”

The marketers of the 7 Day Miracle Cleanse Program, a purported herbal colon-cleansing program, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they falsely claimed that their program would cure cancer and other serious diseases. Among other things, the settlements broadly ban them from involvement in future infomercials for any product, service, or program, except for infomercials for informational publications, and from advertising health-related products in the future in any medium.

According to the FTC’s complaint, one of the defendants, Paris DeAguero, appeared as “the Health Man” in nationally televised infomercials, claiming that his program cured him within weeks of skin and breast cancer without the need for surgery or other treatments. Advertising for the program allegedly claimed that it also effectively prevented, treated, and cured many other diseases, including AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis, and that it safely caused rapid and substantial weight loss. The defendants allegedly also claimed that their product, Parasine 2, was “clinically proven” to eliminate parasites and worms, including tapeworms. The FTC alleged that their claims were false or unsupported by reliable scientific studies, in violation of the FTC Act.

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LOL – Muscletech just bit the dust in a patent-infringement case against BSN – thanks to a supplement ad in Flex Magazine – from June, 1996.  According to Judith Grubner of Nutrisuplaw.com:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit just applied this provision to invalidate patent claims for a nutritional supplement method to enhance muscle performance or recovery from muscle fatigue, based on an advertisement for Weider’s VICTORY™ Professional Protein published in the June 1996 issue Flex Magazine.

Iovate Health Sciences, Inc. [the parent company of Muscletech] is the exclusive license holder of U.S. Patent No. 6,100,287 (the “’287 Patent”), owned by the University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc. The patent claimed a method for enhancing muscle performance or recovery from fatigue involving certain kinds of ketoacids and amino acids.  Iovate and the Foundation sued Bio-Engineered Supplements & Nutrition, Inc. (“BSN”) for infringing certain claims of the ‘287 patent.  BSN countered that the patent claims were invalid because the Flex ad was published before the critical date and was detailed enough to teach a “person skilled in the art” how to practice the method claimed in the patent.  The judge agreed, invalidating those patent claims.

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As the title implies, I have some pretty mixed feelings about the Center for Science in the Public Interest. 

I love the organization for the way it exposes corporate bad behavior.  The CSPI’s recent press release about Nickelodeon is a case in point:

WASHINGTON—Despite its public statements and pledges to help combat childhood obesity, the overwhelming majority of foods marketed by the children’s media giant Nickelodeon are of poor nutritional quality, according to an analysis conducted by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest.

…CSPI reviewed 28 hours of children’s television programming on Nickelodeon, during which 819 commercials and public service announcements were shown. Of the 185 food ads, 177 had nutrition information available, and 138, or 78 percent, of those were for foods of poor nutritional quality, including Apple Jacks, Cookie Crisp cereal, Airhead candy, artificial fruit-flavored snacks, and Chuck E. Cheese’s, where 89 percent of its menu items are nutritionally poor. Some of the healthier foods advertised included yogurts and pasta.

Similarly, 77 percent, or 24 of 31 food ads published in Nickelodeon magazine were for junk foods like SweetTarts, Gummy Bugs, Laffy Taffy, Yogos Bits, or Burger King meals. During the study period, three fast-food restaurants were running tie-ins with Viacom, Nickelodeon’s corporate parent: McDonald’s with The Spiderwick Chronicles, Subway with The Naked Brothers Band, and Chuck E. Cheese’s with Bee Movie.

I have to hand it to the CSPI: nobody does it better. Just looking at that list makes me kinda queasy… so much of the stuff marketed to kids is uniformly awful.  Nickelodeon deserves to have its corporate toes held to the fire.

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Bodybuilding.com has recalled 65 products containing suspected anabolic steroids as part of a cooperative arrangement with the FDA. According to Functional Ingredients Magazine:

The FDA has informed the Company that it believes that the Recalled Products contain ingredients that are steroids. Specifically, the FDA has advised the Company of its concern that the Recalled Products may contain the following ingredients that are currently classified, or the FDA believes should be classified, as steroids: “Superdrol,” “Madol,” “Tren,” “Androstenedione,” and/or “Turinabol.” While the Company has not had an opportunity to independently confirm the FDA’s concerns, the company is undertaking this voluntary recall in an abundance of caution.

Click here to read the rest of the article (inc. the list of recalled supps).

Paul posted a rant about Kellogg’s Froot Loops and Apple Jacks last week, so I figured I’d pile on too… Can’t let him have all the fun, after all.  According to a recent press release:

Kellogg Company Discontinues Immunity Statements On Rice Krispies Cereals

BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Kellogg Company today announced its decision to discontinue the immunity statements on Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereals.

Last year, Kellogg Company started the development of adding antioxidants to Rice Krispies cereals. This is one way the Company responded to parents indicating their desire for more positive nutrition in kids’ cereal.

While science shows that these antioxidants help support the immune system, given the public attention on H1N1, the Company decided to make this change. The communication will be on pack for the next few months as packaging flows through store shelves. We will, however, continue to provide the increased amounts of vitamins A, B, C and E (25% Daily Value) that the cereal offers.

We will continue to respond to the desire for improved nutrition, and we are committed to communicating the importance of nutrition to our consumers.

Why are they doing this now?

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According to Reuters, the “Smart Choices” labeling program has  “voluntarily” postponed “active operations” - pending an investigation by the FDA.  Some companies, like Kraft, intend to continue using the system on existing products, but will not expand its use. Kellogg, however, intends to phase it out completely.

It’s funny what a little public scrutiny can accomplish, isn’t it?

Remember this?  Looks like the so-called “Smart Choices” labelling system is drawing critics with teeth.

Raising the stakes in the battle over nutritional claims for packaged foods, the Connecticut attorney general said on Wednesday that he was investigating a national labeling campaign that promotes products like Froot Loops and mayonnaise as nutritionally smart choices.

In letters to Kellogg’s, General Mills and PepsiCo, the attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, said he was concerned that the program, called Smart Choices, was “overly simplistic, inaccurate and ultimately misleading.” The three companies are among several food giants that participate in the program.

In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Blumenthal said he had discussed his investigation with attorneys general from other states and several had expressed interest in joining his effort. In other prominent consumer protection cases, states have worked together to pursue companies or industries, including cigarette makers and subprime lenders, over charges of deceptive marketing.

“As a matter of common sense, these sugar-laden or fat-saturated products seem very questionable as so-called ‘Smart Choices’ nutritionally,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “We’re ratcheting up pressure for truthful answers to these issues.”

The Connecticut investigation will seek to determine if the labeling campaign violates the state’s consumer protection law, which bars misleading or false product claims, he added.

Personally, I’d be delighted to see Mr. Blumenthal roast the industry over a sloooow fire for this one.  Stay tuned…

I’m of two minds about this…

In an effort to limit how much sugar and fat students put in their bellies at school, the Education Department has effectively banned most bake sales, the lucrative if not quite healthy fund-raising tool for generations of teams and clubs.

The change is part of a new wellness policy that also limits what can be sold in vending machines and student-run stores, which use profits to help finance activities like pep rallies and proms.

As a health/fitness professional, obviously I don’t support having a lot of junk food in schools.  But as a former parent-teacher organization member/officer, I also have a lot of sympathy for student groups and clubs that are being deprived of a popular fund-raising tool.

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Evidently it’s “truth or consequences”…

Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

…the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

LOL – if the FTC follows through, maybe this will put a damper on some of the more outrageous and deceptive ad practices.  We’ll see…

According to the New York Times, the law mandating that chain restaurants in NYC post the calorie counts of their food isn’t working… or so a recent study reports.

The study, by several professors at New York University and Yale, tracked customers at four fast-food chains — McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken — in poor neighborhoods of New York City where there are high rates of obesity.

It found that about half the customers noticed the calorie counts, which were prominently posted on menu boards. About 28 percent of those who noticed them said the information had influenced their ordering, and 9 out of 10 of those said they had made healthier choices as a result.

But when the researchers checked receipts afterward, they found that people had, in fact, ordered slightly more calories than the typical customer had before the labeling law went into effect, in July 2008.

…Tameika Coates, 28, who works in the gift shop at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, ordered a Big Mac, 540 calories, with a large fries, 500 calories, and a large Sprite, 310 calories.

“I don’t really care too much,” Ms. Coates said. “I know I shouldn’t, ’cause I’m too big already,” she added with a laugh.

April Matos, a 24-year-old family specialist, bought her 3-year-old son, Amari, a Happy Meal with chicken McNuggets, along with a Snack Wrap for herself. She said with a shrug that she had no interest in counting calories. “Life is short,” she said, adding that she used to be a light eater. “I started eating everything now I’m pregnant.”

Nutrition and public health experts said the findings showed how hard it was to change behavior, but they said it was not a reason to abandon calorie posting.

NYC is conducting its own, considerably larger study, so this isn’t the final verdict, although the early returns don’t look promising.

It’s time for another round of congressional and agency posturing over dietary supplements… particularly those that – in the words of this New York Times article - “illegally contain steroids.”

Now Congress is investigating whether laws, health agency resources and manufacturing guidelines are adequate to protect the public from products that illegally contain steroids but masquerade as dietary supplements.

…Testifying on Tuesday at a Senate hearing on bodybuilding products, Travis T. Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, estimated that hundreds of illegal products containing steroids were now available in the United States. As evidence of the problem, Mr. Tygart introduced Jareem Gunter, a former college baseball player who said he suffered acute liver failure after taking a bodybuilding product called Superdrol.

“Jareem had no way of knowing that a regulatory scheme designed over 15 years ago for a few companies selling a limited number of simple vitamins and mineral supplements has been hijacked by unscrupulous profiteers,” Mr. Tygart told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs at the hearing on bodybuilding products.

…Mr. Tygart, of the Anti-Doping Agency, recommended legislative changes that would give the agency greater power over dietary supplements both before and after they go on sale.

There’s really only one word to describe this song and dance: it’s horses**t.

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It probably is. 

Although this lawsuit was filed back in May, it just made it across my radar screen… and it’s too good an illustration of this principle to pass up.

Claim to boost testosterone meets class-action lawsuit
Posted by Hugo Ottolenghi

The company says that its product will boost testosterone levels by 10,000%. The plaintiffs says the product is snake oil marked up to $70 a package. So begins a class-action lawsuit filed in California superior court May 6. The suit says that Musclemeds makes false advertising claims about Arimatest and that the product creates a false result when tested.

Scott J. Ferrell of Call Jensen & Ferrell of Newport Beach, Calif., represents two California men plus others who would qualify for class-action status. The suit seeks “to recover millions of dollars generated by defendants via the false and misleading claims.”

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More evidence of an FDA crackdown on steroid-based supplements.

Thursday’s raid followed a two-year criminal investigation into the company and corporate officers, including founder Ryan DeLuca, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to search warrants filed in U.S. District Court.

The searches were conducted at Bodybuilding.com’s headquarters at 2026 S. Silverstone Way, Meridian, and its warehouse off Gowen Road in south Boise…

…Between February 2008 and last August, Robert Blenkinsop, an FDA special agent based in Boise, made four purchases from the company, he said in an affidavit filed in support of the search warrant.

Of the 31 products he bought, 23 tested positive for one or more of five anabolic steroids: madol, tren, superdrol, androstenedione and turinabol, he said in the affidavit.

Local news video here.