Consumer Reports Bias

[D. Saul Weiner]

I am passing along a message that I got in an email from Dr. David
Williams about the current cover story in Consumer Reports. As far as
I am concerned, CR is great for helping with making decisions on
appliances and whatnot, with health matters not so much.

"Consumer Reports in their September 2010 issue covered (yet again)
the dietary supplement industry. This time around their focus was the
"12 Most Dangerous Supplements." I'm not surprised at their choices-or
impressed by their journalism.

I don't want to downplay the dangers of any compound or substance that
can be ingested, particularly when it's taken with the expectation of
improving one's health. The level of concern should be the same
whether the substance is natural, such as an herb or vitamin, or it's
a synthetic compound being sold as a drug.

I don't understand, however, why far more emphasis is placed on the
dangers of herbs and food supplements than on food additives,
artificial sweeteners, over-the-counter medications, and prescription
medications. The most popular explanation-carelessly repeated in the
CR article-always seems to be that the food supplement industry is
totally unregulated and the manufacturers are completely free to sell
any product whatsoever without regard to its effectiveness or safety.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Most supplement manufacturing
facilities are subject to the same stringent requirements as
pharmaceutical facilities, and the industry has done an outstanding
job in the area of self-regulation. Competition in the marketplace and
the desire to maintain a stellar reputation provides a great deal of
incentive. The difference in regulation has to do with the types of
products being marketed and sold.

Safety Is as Safety Does

For example, herbs and other natural products have been used for
centuries. Based on the literature and experience with these compounds
passed down from the ages, we're familiar with both the benefits and
possible side effects of these products. This is far different from
developing synthetic compounds that have never been in the food supply
or ever consumed by humans-compounds that can destroy health or be
lethal if given to the wrong person or in the wrong amount. Common
sense would dictate that these products should undergo more testing
and regulation than a food or herb that has been used or consumed by
humans for hundreds or thousands of years. This is not to say that
natural products can't be contaminated or improperly processed, but
that's true for every product.

In every industry there will be unscrupulous individuals who operate
their companies without the consumer's best interest at heart. In
every industry there will also be mistakes made that affect the
quality of the end product. It happens in the car industry and the
electronics industry, and it has happened in the food supplement
industry. And it happens constantly in the pharmaceutical industry.

Drug companies are routinely fined hundreds of millions of dollars for
making false claims, bribing doctors to write prescriptions or publish
false research data, or, even worse, cover up and hide data which
demonstrates the product is either totally ineffective or causes
further illness or even death to the end users. (It's almost like it's
a part of their business model-make a billion in profit, pay $100
million of that in fines, and pocket the rest.) It's not from a lack
of regulation. Under current law drug manufacturers are legally
required to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of a product
before it can be approved for sale. The companies are highly regulated
by the exact same government agencies that regulate the manufacture
and sale of food supplements.

I don't recommend or defend every product because it's "natural." By
the same token, every natural product shouldn't be condemned because
some "natural" herbs have or might cause side effects. I don't think
every plant/herb on Earth is safe, and there's a short list of ones I
don't recommend using, including some of those on the CR list. For
example, I'm not convinced of the value of colloidal silver, foxglove,
datura, or homeopathic arsenic or mercury. But there's a much, much
longer list of food additives, over-the-counter medications, and
prescriptions that I would never recommend either.

For the record, I haven't included any of the Consumer Reports "dirty
dozen" supplements in any of the products I formulate for Mountain
Home Nutritionals. In some cases that's because there are simply other
solutions that work better. In other cases it's because there are
solutions that are just as effective but have fewer unwanted effects.

Regardless of what products you decide to use to protect, preserve, or
regain your health, it's important to get accurate information. Learn
about the benefits as well as the risks. Search out reliable sources
and get the facts about everything you put in your body, whether it's
a food, a supplement, or a drug. When it comes to your body and your
health, no one has more at stake than you.

Until next time,

Dr. David Williams