Source: LOHAS Weekly Newsletter
Published: Sunday, November 01, 1998

BOCA RATON, FL—Two months after a Los Angeles Times story questioned the potency of several branded St. John’s wort products, including a Rexall Sundown (RXSD) product, RXSD President Damon DeSantis says that, although the company did not experience a major downturn in consumer confidence from the story, the nutrition industry could benefit from companies working together to educate consumers about quality and correct testing methodologies rather than focusing on competing with each other.

The Aug. 31 Times story said that independent tests commissioned by the paper found a Rexall Sundown (RXSD) St. John’s wort product sold under the Sundown Herbals brand contained only about 20% of its labeled potency (see Natural Business, September 1998, pg. 1). “In response, we addressed comments to the Times and shared that, bottom line, their testing was incorrect,” DeSantis told Natural Business. “We had a rise of a couple hundred consumer calls out of the thousands we regularly get, and we educated callers on our quality control and testing procedures.” DeSantis also says that there has been no significant impact on the company’s sales or stock price, and when analysts called, RXSD was able to report that sales of its products, including St. John’s wort, have actually increased in its 70-store Los Angeles market since the story appeared.

Regarding the seemingly dark picture of the nutrition industry in the public eye, DeSantis says that nutrition companies need to work together as an industry on consumer education. “They may not remember it was Bob’s Vitamins that had a question about the product’s potency, but they’ll remember it was the nutrition industry,” he says.

“We push for different participants in the industry to come together and form an industry organization and create a ‘Good Housekeeping’ seal of approval, if you will, for the consumer. Also, we’re members of the Corporate Alliance for Integrative Medicine that addresses these issues (see related story, this page). Companies need to work together to go forward and educate the consumer, rather than attacking other companies. It makes the industry look bad,” DeSantis says.