Expo East Brings Industry to D.C.

WASHINGTON--Natural Products Expo East was held on schedule here Oct. 11 to 14, becoming the first convention to come to the capitol since the Sept. 11 attacks. It was also the first Expo East held here after a 10-year run in Baltimore.

According to the show organizer, New Hope Natural Media, total registration was 16,844, including 900 exhibiting companies. The figure represents 88 percent of last year's registration of 19,133.

"The people I spoke with were glad to be there, not only to do business but to show the world that we are moving forward and doing our part to keep the economy going," said Fred Linder, executive vice president of New Hope Natural Media, a division of Penton Media. "Some of our exhibitors told me they were able to spend quality time with serious buyers, and it paid off."

Some exhibitors agreed with Linder's assessment. "Despite the lower attendance, Expo East turned out to be better than expected," said P.K. Davé, president of Nature's Formulary. "The attendees seemed less rushed than other Expos and spent more time speaking with us. As a result, we wrote more orders than last year's Expo East."

For 2002, Expo East (www.expoeast.com) is set for Oct. 3 to 6, to be held again at the Washington Convention Center.

Majority of Nutrition Bars Fail ConsumerLab.com Testing

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--Tests conducted by ConsumerLab.com show that 60 percent of nutrition bars do not meet their label claims. Only 12 of the 30 bars--tested for label claims in calories, fats, carbohydrates, sugars, proteins, cholesterol and sodium--passed the review, with undeclared carbohydrate the most common problem.

Some of the products, particularly those labeled as "low carb," carried label disclaimers that glycerin had not been counted as a carbohydrate--a practice that has been under fire from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (For more on this, visit www.naturalproductsinsider.com/hotnews/19h6155528.html.)

Other mislabeled products included seven bars with higher sodium levels, two with more fat and two more with extra calories.

Wanted: Dietary Supplement Testimonials

SARASOTA, Fla.--The Dietary Supplement Education Alliance (DSEA) is asking for help from retailers and manufacturers that know of a customer who has greatly benefited from taking a dietary supplement for an adverse health condition. Any testimonials should be submitted to Deb Knowles, c/o DSEA, 4034 Roberts Point, Sarasota, FL 34242; phone (941) 349-9044; FAX (941) 349-9144; E-mail info@supplementinfo.org.

GNC Plans to Expand International Presence, Open Smoothie Bars

PITTSBURGH--General Nutrition Companies Inc. (GNC) plans to add 400 new franchisee stores in Canada over the next five years. Currently, GNC (www.gncfranchising.com) has four franchise stores in Canada, as well as 127 corporate-owned stores throughout the nation's provinces.

"[O]ur research shows that the current 2.32 million Canadian entrepreneurs is growing as the number of small businesses and self-employed Canadians increases significantly each year," reported Russell Cooper, GNC senior vice president and general manager of franchising.

In additional news, Royal Numico, the Dutch parent company of GNC, plans to introduce GNC products into German drugstores and food outlets. According to the company, the 8,000-strong drugstore, Schlecker, will be one of the first stores to carry GNC items.

GNC also announced that it will open as many as 300 GNC Smoothie Bars in 2002 in both its company-owned and franchise stores. In preliminary store sites, the bars increased foot traffic and created significant increases in supplement sales, according to Mike Meyers, president and chief executive officer of GNC (www.gnc.com).

Samples Increase Sales for Rainbow Light

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--Rainbow Light^® Nutritional Systems (www.rainbowlight.com) averaged 18-percent growth per month for the first seven months in 2001, according to data from SPINSscan, an independent market research firm. Chief executive officer of Rainbow Light, Linda Kahler, attributed this double-digit growth in an otherwise sluggish market to the company's increased endeavors for expanding retailer and consumer education, which included offering product samples to retailers and customers.

New PR Campaign for Michael's Naturopathic Programs

SEDONA, Ariz.--Michael's Naturopathic Programs hired New Day Productions, based here, to help launch a marketing plan to educate, inform and re-invigorate current consumers and to attract new ones. The campaign will include a discount program "to give back to our customers," according to Karen Trabucco, chief executive officer of Michael's (www.michaelhealth.com).

UNICEF Under Microscope for Alleged Vitamin A Contamination

DISPUR, India--According to the news wire Reuters, hundreds of children in India are hospitalized and one two-year-old is dead after receiving vitamin A supplements from the United Nations' humanitarian agency, UNICEF (www.unicef.org). As of mid-November, 700 children had been hospitalized for fever, vomiting and stomach pains.

Police reported that the supplements might have been contaminated. At a news conference in India, UNICEF's regional officer, Carrie Auer, denied the allegations, and some UNICEF officials are saying that the children may have been given an overdose of the vitamin. UNICEF also reported that the children who had been hospitalized were not in serious condition. In the meantime, samples of the vitamin solution were sent for tests and the government has banned its use until test results are released.

The batch under suspicion was manufactured in June and August of this year, and this was the third round of vitamin A administration in the Assam region this year. Between January and November 2001, 35 million Indian children received these supplements.

According to Phil Harvey, Ph.D., chief science officer for the National Nutritional Foods Association (www.nnfa.org), these cases may not be a sign of vitamin A toxicity. "Fever is not a sign," he said. "Vomiting and stomach pains could be associated with toxicity, but all of these symptoms could also be due to something like the flu." He also added that other signs of too much vitamin A included bone pain, brittle nails and hair loss. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) set the daily Upper Intake Level for vitamin A at 10,000 IU (international units).

NEWS BRIEFS

Alternative Therapies Grow in Popularity Each Generation

BOSTON--A new study from Harvard University reported that the use of alternative medicine has continued to increase over the years. In the Aug. 21 Annals of Internal Medicine (135:262-8, 2001) (www.annals.org), researchers found that only three of every 10 pre-"baby boom" study respondents had used some type of alternative medicine by age 33. In comparison, 5 of every 10 baby boomers had used these therapies by that age; and 7 out of 10 post-baby boomer respondents reported using at least one of these therapies by their early 30s.

Bastyr Receives $1 Million to Study HIV, Garlic

KENMORE, Wash.--Bastyr University received $1 million in grant money to study whether garlic can help reduce the side effects of a popular HIV anti-viral cocktail. At the moment, the school (www.bastyr.edu) is looking for HIV-positive volunteers to participate in the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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