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FTC dismisses complaint by vitamin trade group against ConsumerLab.com
WHITE PLAINS, NY — March 15, 2005 — ConsumerLab.com has announced that the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent a letter today to a trade group of vitamin and supplement makers, which calls itself the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), stating that the FTC refused to take action with respect to a complaint by the group against ConsumerLab.com.
ConsumerLab.com is a leading independent evaluator of health and nutrition products and has been at the forefront of exposing problems with vitamins and supplements in the U.S. since 1999 when it was founded by Tod Cooperman, M.D. along with former FDA scientist William Obermeyer, Ph.D. ConsumerLab.com's mission is to help consumers identify better quality products.
In what ConsumerLab.com considers a malicious campaign designed to undermine its credibility, the trade group CRN distributed a press release in January publicizing a letter that it simultaneously sent to the FTC alleging that ConsumerLab.com violated FTC code. CRN entitled its letter "Enforcement Action against ConsumerLab.com," creating the false impression that the FTC was involved in an action, which was never the case. The news release and letter were rife with false and misleading information about ConsumerLab.com.
"We are glad that the FTC has exposed this trade group's actions as no more than a baseless smear campaign intended to discredit our findings and silence an independent voice," commented Dr. Cooperman, ConsumerLab.com's president. "Rather than shoot the messenger, it is time that this group heed the message that consumers deserve to know what is in, or not in, the supplements that they take." ConsumerLab.com will be commencing legal action against CRN and its executives for its defamatory attack.
ConsumerLab.com has tested more than twelve hundred vitamins and supplements and found problems with approximately one quarter of these products. ConsumerLab.com's reports are available through its popular subscription-based website www.consumerlab.com, which receives nearly two million visits per year, and in its acclaimed book ConsumerLab.com's Guide to Buying Vitamins & Supplements: What's Really in the Bottle?
ConsumerLab.com has no ownership from, or interest in, companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell consumer products. Subscription to ConsumerLab.com is available online. For group subscriptions or product testing contact Lisa Sabin, Vice President for Business Development, at lisa.sabin@consumerlab.com.
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ConsumerLab.com is a leading independent evaluator of health and nutrition products and has been at the forefront of exposing problems with vitamins and supplements in the U.S. since 1999 when it was founded by Tod Cooperman, M.D. along with former FDA scientist William Obermeyer, Ph.D. ConsumerLab.com's mission is to help consumers identify better quality products.
In what ConsumerLab.com considers a malicious campaign designed to undermine its credibility, the trade group CRN distributed a press release in January publicizing a letter that it simultaneously sent to the FTC alleging that ConsumerLab.com violated FTC code. CRN entitled its letter "Enforcement Action against ConsumerLab.com," creating the false impression that the FTC was involved in an action, which was never the case. The news release and letter were rife with false and misleading information about ConsumerLab.com.
"We are glad that the FTC has exposed this trade group's actions as no more than a baseless smear campaign intended to discredit our findings and silence an independent voice," commented Dr. Cooperman, ConsumerLab.com's president. "Rather than shoot the messenger, it is time that this group heed the message that consumers deserve to know what is in, or not in, the supplements that they take." ConsumerLab.com will be commencing legal action against CRN and its executives for its defamatory attack.
ConsumerLab.com has tested more than twelve hundred vitamins and supplements and found problems with approximately one quarter of these products. ConsumerLab.com's reports are available through its popular subscription-based website www.consumerlab.com, which receives nearly two million visits per year, and in its acclaimed book ConsumerLab.com's Guide to Buying Vitamins & Supplements: What's Really in the Bottle?
ConsumerLab.com has no ownership from, or interest in, companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell consumer products. Subscription to ConsumerLab.com is available online. For group subscriptions or product testing contact Lisa Sabin, Vice President for Business Development, at lisa.sabin@consumerlab.com.
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