Natural Grocers Supports Government’s Action Against Unsafe Supplements

LAKEWOOD, Colo. - Nov. 20, 2015 - PRLog -- LAKEWOOD, Colo. (Nov. 19, 2015) – Natural Grocers (https://www.naturalgrocers.com/), the Colorado-based specialty retailer of natural and organic groceries, body care and dietary supplements, is supporting the Nov. 17 announcement by a joint task force from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Defense (DOD), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and the US Food and Drug Administration that they have taken strong enforcement actions against several entities purporting to be dietary supplement companies.

The companies that are under investigation, and which have been charged with breaking the law, are companies that put consumers at risk by selling adulterated dietary supplements or products that have no place being called dietary supplements in the first place. Natural Grocers applauds the government for taking these steps to remove these bad players from a marketplace that allows tens of millions of Americans to safely take dietary supplements every day.

“Natural Grocers strongly supports the efforts of the task force as they use the power granted to them by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act to take action against companies that do not follow the law and put consumers at risk,” says Dr. Jonathan Clinthorne, nutrition education specialist at Natural Grocers. “We know that Americans value their right to have access to safe dietary supplements and safely use dietary supplements on a daily basis.”

These bad players continually threaten our access to dietary supplements by giving the industry a bad name. This is the type of action that the legitimate and trustworthy makers and sellers of dietary supplements have been asking the FDA and DOJ to take for quite some time. There have not been any new laws established giving the government authority to act. Instead, these actions have always been within the purview of the FDA, and we are happy to see that the members of the joint task force are exercising their authority.

Several of the companies cited by this task force claim their dietary supplements are capable of mitigating or curing diseases. This is against the law – and rightfully so, as it has always been the stance of Natural Grocers that dietary supplements support health but do not cure disease. Consumers should be extremely cautious of any dietary supplement claiming to treat or cure a disease; any company doing so is far from reputable.

Reports from various sources have surfaced in an attempt to use this as an example of how dietary supplements, on a whole, are unsafe. During its press conference, however, the taskforce was very supportive of safe dietary supplements, and stated that “many [dietary supplements] deliver what they have promised” and “we are not here to criticize the entire supplement marketplace.”

While we applaud the efforts taken by the task force, there is a major point of clarification needed. The press conference contained a statement that USP Labs has been indicted because of their adulterated products that are “widely popular workout and weight loss supplements.” Looking at data from a recent consumer survey (http://www.crnusa.org/prpdfs/CRNPR15-CCSurvey102315.pdf) done by the Council for Responsible Nutrition (http://www.crnusa.org/) into what constitutes truly constitutes “wildly popular” supplements, CRN found that among dietary supplement users, vitamins and minerals are the most commonly consumed dietary supplements, with 98 percent of users reporting that they take a vitamin or mineral supplement. Of people taking vitamin and mineral supplements, 78 percent report taking a multivitamin; 32 percent take a vitamin D supplement; 27 percent take vitamin C; 24 percent take calcium; and 18 percent take a B-complex.

The same CRN survey also found that approximately 25 percent of dietary supplement users consume sports nutrition or weight loss supplements. While that sounds like a considerable number, the vast majority of people who reported consuming a sports nutrition supplement were taking protein supplements.

“If you remove protein supplements from the analysis, this data indicates that workout and weight loss supplements, such as those sold by USP Labs, actually constitute a very small segment of the dietary supplement market,” added Clinthorne.

Natural Grocers believes weight-loss is a multifaceted issue that requires optimal nutrition, physical activity and lifestyle changes. The company does not believe that stimulant-based weight-loss products qualify as health supportive dietary supplements. Additionally, energy drinks are not dietary supplements; for that reason, Natural Grocers does not sell any dietary supplement with added caffeine.

Natural Grocers has worked very hard for over 60 years to ensure we provide our customers with the highest quality dietary supplements. In fact, Natural Grocers:

·       Does not sell any products that do not have sufficient scientific evidence to back up their label claims

·       Holds a quarterly review of all new products to determine whether they meet our quality and safety paradigms

·       Requires companies provide us with Certificates of Analysis on raw materials used in their products, a finished products assay, or both

·       Visits the dietary supplement manufacturers’ facilities to see firsthand how products are tested and manufactured

·       Requires manufacturers to comply with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines and provide comprehensive answers to our quality assurance forms

It is in the consumer’s best interest to buy high-quality dietary supplements made by legitimate, transparent companies that prioritize quality rather than fly-by-night online operations.

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About Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (NYSE- NGVC; NaturalGrocers.com (https://www.naturalgrocers.com/)) is a rapidly expanding specialty retailer of organic and natural groceries, body care and dietary supplements. The company offers a flexible, neighborhood-store format, affordable prices and free, science-based nutrition education programs to help customers make informed health and nutrition choices. Natural Grocers has over 2,700 employees and operates more than 100 stores in 18 states. Founded in Colorado in 1955, the company is celebrating its 60^th anniversary in 2015.