53.7 F
San Diego
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Dietary Supplements: Despite Ephedra Ban, It’s Still Big Business

Dietary Supplements: Despite Ephedra Ban, It’s Still Big Business

Natural Products Are More Popular, But Be Warned ‘There Is No Magic Pill’

BY MARION WEBB

The federal government’s ban of herbal supplements containing ephedra in January may have put a damper on the nation’s $19 billion nutritional supplement industry.

But, it hasn’t put the brakes on consumers’ willingness to use dietary supplements.

And former ephedra companies including San Diego-based Metabolife International Inc. now offer a new generation of non-ephedra products, while other firms tout products as all-natural.

Metabolife 356 was the leading ephedra-based weight-loss product, said Grant Ferrier, editor of the San Diego-based Nutrition Business Journal, a monthly newsletter for supplement makers.

Ferrier gave estimated Metabolife sales of $300 million for 2000 and 2001.

In August 2002, when closely held Metabolife disclosed to the Food and Drug Administration that thousands of consumers experienced “adverse events,” sales dropped.

Reports blaming ephedra for causing such serious health problems as heart attacks and strokes, and even deaths, led to a $770 million drop in overall ephedra product sales in 2002, Ferrier said.

Still, those concerns haven’t curbed people’s appetite for weight-loss products.

“There are about 40 million Americans out there who want to lose weight,” Ferrier said.

Supplement makers have reacted to the ban on ephedra by offering a new line of products.

Metabolife’s new Metabolife Ephedra-Free product contains green tea, which the firm describes on its Web site as raising the body’s metabolism. The sales figures show that non-ephedra products seem to fill the void left by ephedra: Sales of such products have doubled from $400 million in 2001 to $800 million in 2003, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.

That compares to an estimated 10 million to 12 million people who bought $1.3 billion worth of ephedra supplements in 2002.

“Whether (the non-ephedra product) has the same weight effect as the ephedra product remains to be seen,” Ferrier said.

Weathering The Storm

So far, Metabolife has made a relatively successful transition.

He estimated Metabolife now has annual sales of about $150 million, about half of what it made in 2001.

The firm has weathered many storms , including personal liability lawsuits filed by consumers, investigations by the federal government, and management shake-up.

And Ferrier projects Metabolife would be able to handle almost any situation.

“The ephedra issue was big and they are still here,” Ferrier said. “Metabolife remains a very strong brand and millions of customers who have lost weight remain healthy.”

Although Ferrier said while he supports the ban of ephedra, he pointed out that “most of the herbal products are naturally derived and have been used for centuries.”

Ephedra is derived from the Asian herb ma huang and is believed to suppress appetite and burn fat while raising blood pressure and the heart rate. Combined with caffeine, the effects of increased metabolism are even greater.

Ephedra became the first herbal substance to be banned by federal authorities.

Unlike drugs, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) enacted in 1994, exempts makers of supplements from the costly and lengthy process of bringing a drug or device to market.

Drug makers are required to conduct scientific studies in animals and humans to prove that their products are safe and effective.

By contrast, the 1994 law puts the burden on regulators to prove that a supplement is unsafe.

Although some people believe that dietary supplement makers should follow similar guidelines as the drug companies.

Nancy Ferguson, a San Diego-based certified clinical herbalist and clinical nutritionist wants stricter regulation for supplement makers.

“There are a lot of companies out there who buy quality herbs, but there are others who don’t have the (financial means) and buy the cheapest ones,” she said.

And just because a product doesn’t contain ephedra doesn’t make it safe, she said.

“Non-ephedra just means they don’t put ephedra in it,” Ferguson said. “They try to show that the products are safe, but I don’t think all products are totally healthful.”

FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan announced in January that the agency will scrutinize other herbal supplements as well.

Among them is bitter orange, which is also now being used as a substitute for ephedra.

“Bitter orange is one of the most effective ingredients to speed up metabolism and gives you a noticeable rush,” Ferrier said.

Several former ephedra makers now use bitter orange in their products. That includes Metabolife’s new product, Metabolife Ultra.

But Ferrier said people often put undue blame on the supplement for adverse effects. Sometimes contraindications, or taking too much of a supplement, is the problem.

Still, the FDA is likely to move more aggressively to gather data to measure whether a supplement poses serious risks.

But a segment of supplement makers have used the ban of ephedra to their advantage.

“A lot of alternatives (supplement makers) have been emphasizing their history of non-ephedra products and used it to their advantage by ramping up their marketing efforts to get new customers and transition customers,” Ferrier said.

Ron Hillman, president and chief operating officer of Life Force International, a San Diego-based nutritional supplement maker, attributes the firm’s 80 percent rise in sales for 2003 from last year to a rise in demand for natural products.

Hillman stressed that Life Force uses only whole food, natural-source products, which he claims are superior to the synthetic vitamins and minerals many people still like to buy.

“As a company we stay away from controversial ingredients that enhance metabolism that can have adverse effects on the body,” Hillman said.

Paul Fisher, a San Diego-based nutrition consultant for whole food supplement maker Standard Process Inc. of Palmyra, Wis., also points to the purity of their products.

Fisher markets a line of 75 herbal products exclusively to health professionals, including some 600 health care practitioners locally.

His customers are chiropractors, medical doctors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, and nutritionists who then resell to their patients.

Ferrier said the demand for herbal supplements remains strong despite some concerns.

Last year, the U.S. market for herbal supplements grew 3 percent to $4 billion , 40 percent to 45 percent of the U.S. population uses vitamins and minerals regularly.

Some people have stopped taking weight loss pills in favor of the latest craze , low-carbohydrate diets.

Ferrier said there’s still no shortage of people looking for pills to trim fat.

“Everyone wants the easy way out, so people look for the magic pill , but there is no magic pill,” Ferguson said.

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

Oberon Eyes Europe for Renewable DME

Leaders of Influence in Law 2024

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-