With so many supplement suppliers out there, and the cost of supplementing your health, like many, I was initially enthusiastic upon learning about ConsumerLab. I became a subscriber, because there is typically so little information about products available that doesen't qualify as simply propaganda about one's own product. It seemed to me that an objective opinion in this are was just what health-minded consumers of an alternative nature needed.

But I soon found that ConsumerLab was essentially just what the name implied, as it seemingly reported really only about mass-market products whose quality, dosages and costs were to found at my local drugstore, not on the internet or at health food stores. While I was a subscriber for a year, I did not see one review that included any of what I would consider more serious supplements that I have taken, including those of xtend-life.

I wrote to them about my dissatisfation with the range of their review examples, but I never received a reply.

It was only then, when I realized that this company wasn't what it portrayed itself to be, that I could step back and become aware of the tabloid mentality that you write about here, Warren. While they were claiming to be the guardians of an industry that has very little regulation (at least in the US), they were investigating the equivalent of Flintstone Vitamins in each catagory that they reviewed. It's no wonder they would typically discover quantities lacking or levels present that were misrepresented as your article points out.

To me they represent just another depressing example of a propaganda machine that is designed to elicit fear and and a designed response to that fear, masked as reponsible journalism. Unfortunately, this type of bait and switch dishonesty has become almost the norm in both marketing and journalism itself. And it has become so normalized in our lives, that its reaches and practices seem to bleed to almost everywhere to some degree, as the general public has come to accept it as normal, and consequently, is now practiced in degrees at all levels of society. It's very sad.

Sorry about the philosophical soapbox, Warren. I was thrilled to see you call ConsumerLab out. But it's just another illustration of how life has turned into a Las Vegas environment -- we're on our own, playing a game that's already been figured out by them.

Many thanks,

Michael Colford

Interesting all this hype about heavy and toxic metals.

I grew up in Holland, just after WWII.

In those days all our drinking water pipes were made of lead. The "Plumber" is still called a "Loodgieter" literally the one who poors lead. When I was a kid, I melted lead on the kitchen stove, which was salvaged from car batteries and lead pipes that came out of houses.

I used it for ballast in my model sailboats and poored it in wood molds.

My father who filled industrial thermometers with Mercury had Mercury poisoning in the mid fifties. He lost his teeth and most of his hair. (He lived to be 94)

I used to swipe some of his Mercury and mixed it with ink, to plate copper coins.

Mostly I just watched it blow into a million tiny balls when I smashed a good size puddle with my fist.

We had no idea that this could be harmful.

Today I still eat fish from the sea every chance I have, I work daily with Nickel alloys, Carbides and other exotic metals, I am 61 and feel just fine, no complaints and I never see a doctor, but I do take my Total Balance and GLM Omega supplements faithfully.

So maybe I won't substitute my Canneloni for lead pipes, but I am certainly not going to worry myself to death over a few micrograms of metal in my food.

The question is why not distill the herbal extracts? There are molecularly distilled fish oil supplements, why not apply the same to herbs?

So you only rely on your supplier that their herbs are not high in lead? I was under the impression that you distilled your products for toxic metals, not just monitor them.What happens if the batch surpasses the 2mcg limit? You just discard it?

Thanks Michael, Willem and Henry for your comments, and Henry for your further questions. Warren is currently out of the country and will continue his response on this subject upon his return. Thanks for waiting.

Hi Michael,

Thank you for sharing your experience with Consumerlab with us all. Things are not always as they seem.

Hi Willem,

I can relate to what you are saying. I still remember when I was at school being fascinated playing with those little 'pools' of mercury. Also, in those days we had to rummage around to find bits of lead so we could melt them down to make our own fishing sinkers.

But,,,we will be OK because we take our Total Balance and Omega 3, eh? :)

Hi Henry,

The molecular distillation process is only suitable for liquids such as fish oil.

The herbal extracts go through a totally different extraction and purification process which removes impurities and contaminants.

So, whether it is our Omega 3 or the herbal extracts they all go through a purification process. Nonetheless we still test each batch to confirm the purification process has been effective.

If a batch did exceed our specifications...yes, it would be dumped and we would seek compensation from our raw ingredient supplier. They all know the demanding standards we set and as a result we have never had a sub-standard raw ingredient supplied to us.

Mind you we vet the raw ingredient suppliers very carefully because we commence doing business with them.