I have the greatest respect for Dr Mercola and the work that he does, but I have to disagree with him regarding an article that he posted recently.

It was entitled ‘FDA announces plan to Eliminate Vitamin Companies’. This was an article written by Byron Richard and endorsed by Dr Mercola.

I have read a number of articles by Byron Richards and he writes some good stuff, but this one is way off the mark and is grossly sensationalized.

So, what was this all about and what is the plan to eliminate Vitamin Companies?

Well, ironically their articles relate to the some subject that I also wrote about in the blog almost 3 weeks ago. The subject…

New USA FDA GMP Regulations for Dietary Supplements

There are many errors of fact in the article posted on Dr Mercola’s site. To name the most obvious ones:

1. Instead of this announcement being an attempt by the FDA to eliminate supplement companies it is the most positive thing that the FDA have done for many years to PROTECT the supplement industry! This is the complete opposite of what Byron Richards is claiming.

I’ll explain.

The credibility of the supplement industry has been steadily eroded over recent years by two groups of people within the industry.

One group is ‘marketers of supplements’ who produce sub standard products and in some cases unsafe and contaminated ones. Some of these products are literally made at home in the promoter’s bath tub. They see a financial opportunity and are in it for the short haul to make as much money as they can and then move on.

These people are a menace not only to the industry but also to the consumers whom they ‘hoodwink’ with over the top claims.

The other group are those manufacturers, (and unfortunately many contract manufacturers come into this category) who produce product to a price due to pressure from distributors and stiff competition.

These manufacturers cut corners, don’t test their raw ingredients, don’t test their final product for microbiological contamination or heavy metals and buy the cheapest raw ingredients without really knowing what they are getting. I addressed this particular issue when the publicity came out about Chinese ingredients recently.

You can refer to this by going to http://www.livehealthierlonger.com/article-categories/updates-from-warren

/articles/contaminated-chinese-ingredients-and-more

The new FDA GMP rules will eliminate the first group and will go someway to cleaning up the second, but not quite far enough, because they do not require mandatory testing of the finished product for micro’s or heavy metals. This is a shame because this will still mean that supplements will find their way on to the market with heavy metal contamination.

2. Byron refers to the FDA issuing an 800 page rule for GMP. This is another exaggeration. The rule itself is more like 130 pages. The reason why this document is so big is that it contains the FDA’s rationale for the various rules that they are putting into place.

It discusses the input that they received from industry and other interested parties and then gives their comments. With all due respect to the FDA this is well done and does reaffirm that there has been a true democratic process in the preparation of the rules. The FDA has taken notice of responsible industry. This is more than can be said for other regulatory authorities in other parts of the world, notably the TGA in Australia.

3. Byron suggests that small companies will be put out of business by these new rules. That is nonsense…unless as I said you mix up supplements in your bath tub at home and put them in capsules on your kitchen bench.

A company does not have to be big in order to comply. There is no reason that a company with as few as 10 employees cannot conform to these new rules. They are not onerous. Sure they will add a bit of extra cost but it is nothing like has been claimed by some, UNLESS they have extremely poor systems currently in place in which case they should not be manufacturing.

4. The new GMP rules are NOT drug like. Far from it. As I mentioned they do not really go far enough. We already exceed them and will continue to do so as the public deserves only the best.

I hope that this article helps put this issue in the correct perspective. As I alluded to earlier I think that both Byron Richards and Dr Mercola do some excellent work but I couldn’t let this one go as it is right ‘over the top’ and not correct.

Maybe Dr Mercola may publish this article along with my previous ones on the new FDA GMP rules and the one on Chinese ingredients so his readers will get to see the true state of affairs.

Like most people in the natural products industry I am no great fan of the FDA, but on this occasion you have to give them credit where it is due. Unless the industry is cleaned up we will ultimately witness its demise due to loss of consumer confidence.

To read the article on Dr Mercola's site click here.

In good health,

Warren Matthews