Barbara Formica

June 2010

Are you as concerned as me? What is going on with all these recalls lately?

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the makers of Tylenol has had 2 recalls just this year. One back in January for a ‘moldy’ or ‘mildew’ like odor and of course recently due to manufacturing defects. They also had a recall back in September 2009. Pretty sad that we can no longer trust a household name like Tylenol anymore.

Back on March 2nd, 2010 the makers and sellers of fish oil supplements were sued by the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation in California for not telling consumers that their products contained toxic levels of PCBs. The defendants in this lawsuit were Omega Protein, a Houston-based company that is the world's largest producer of omega-3 fish oil, and the many companies that they produced fish oil for - companies like Rite Aid, CVS, GNC, Now Health Group, Pharmavite, Solgar and Twinlab. And the scary thing is the FDA did not initiate this action and force the manufacturers to take their contaminated products off the shelves. So, you may have ingested or are still ingesting these toxic chemicals.

These are just a few of the recent recalls that I am aware of…who knows how many others there are. Regulators cannot test every product on the market. They are relying on the manufacturers to follow guidelines. So in essence regulators are only doing a “SPOT” check. So, what is slipping through? Do you really know what is in the stuff you are taking? And what are the effects on your body and your health?

At this point I probably have you emptying out your medicine cabinet as well as dumping all your vitamin supplements- Right?? Well that may be a good thing but you need these things to keep your body functioning and moving.

SO WHO CAN YOU TRUST? That’s a really good question. The old adage of “Buyer Beware” comes to mind as well as “you get what you pay for.” So what can you do? Here’s what I recommend.

· Get your supplements from an established company with a reputation for quality and integrity. I would recommend choosing a company that has been around for a number of years so that you know that their reputation is based on their track record over the years rather than just on hype. Check up on them periodically. Have they had any recalls?

· Make sure that they run rigorous quality controls on their products. I would choose a company that requires pharmaceutical grade quality controls on their products.

· Make sure that they have published clinical studies on their products that prove both safety and effectiveness. Again I would recommend choosing a company that has many published clinical studies on their products rather than just one or two.

Shaklee supplements are my personal recommendation because Shaklee insists on rigorous quality control tests on every one of their ingredients and on their finished products. For example, they import ultra pure, triple distilled fish oil from England and test it for PCB contamination after they receive it. They also have over 70 published clinical studies on their products in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

I have used other products in the past but knowing what I know today I would never put my health and the health of my family in jeopardy by using anything other than Shaklee products. They are the only company I can trust!

If you would like to learn more please feel free to call Barbara Formica @ 516-991-7460, I would love to help!