US Nutritional Supplements Industry Defends Use of
Animal Brains in Pills and Cosmetics

Note from the Organic Consumers Association:

Eat your raw bovine pituitary capsules in confidence, says the trade association
of the nutritional supplements industry. Yum. The press release reprinted below
is especially irresponsible, given that the US nutritional supplements industry knows
full well that (1) there is no real science-based testing by the US government of
animal tissues most likely to be infected by Mad Cow-like infective agents
(brains, pituitary, spleen, etc.) before they are put into so-called "glandular"
nutritional supplements or cosmetics and (2) that the European Union--adopting
the precautionary approach--will soon ban the importantation of US gelatin,
nutritional supplements, and cosmetics which are derived from high risk bovine
and animal tissues. We already have thousands of sheep, deer, and elk dying from
Mad Cow-like diseases in the USA--and there is mouting evidence that a specific
American strain of Mad Cow Disease or BSE may be incubating in the nations
100 million cattle. For more information see the mad cow section of our website or
<www.mad-cow.org>

--------------- Story ---------------
Wire Service: PR (PR Newswire)
Date: Thu, Aug 17, 2000

NNFA: Reports That Some Supplements Are Contaminated Unfounded

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent reports in the
national media that some dietary supplements could be contaminated with mad
cow disease are alarmist and in some cases factually inaccurate, according
to the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA), a leading trade group
for the natural products industry.

"This is the worst kind of sensational journalism," said David Seckman,
NNFA's executive director/CEO. "Had some of these reporters checked their
facts with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) instead of relying upon
physicians and academics to explain regulatory issues, they would have
discovered that safeguards have been in place for several years. The FDA
has all the authority it needs to keep contaminated products off store
shelves and out of consumer hands. In addition, no evidence has been found
that any products made from bovine parts and distributed in the U.S. are
contaminated; that is pure speculation."

Dietary supplements containing animal parts, for instance dried and
ground thymus gland or brain tissue, are marketed to support the function
of the tissues they originate from. Since the early '90s, supplement
manufacturers have been alerted to potential contamination by bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, by both the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the FDA. The FDA's most recent import
alert concerning BSE contamination was published January 24 of this year.
That alert asked manufacturers of cosmetic and dietary supplement products
to "assure, with a high degree of certainty," that bovine materials they
purchase do not come from BSE-identified countries. In a survey of member
companies who manufacture products from bovine tissue, these companies told
NNFA that they were in compliance with the FDA's directive.

"First of all, the member companies we talked to do not purchase
high-risk bovine tissue from any of the countries identified by the USDA or
FDA as being sources of BSE," said Phil Harvey, Ph.D., NNFA's director of
science and quality assurance. "And although the animal tissue they do
purchase does not come from European sources, they still require a BSE-free
certificate of analysis of the raw materials." Harvey said that in
addition to requiring certification that bovine products are BSE-free,
manufacturers also typically screen for other unwanted ingredients, such as
hormones and heavy metals.

To further ensure the dietary supplement products are free from
contamination, in 1999 the NNFA launched a program that aims to eliminate
the potential for contamination of dietary supplements through the
establishment of good manufacturing practices (GMPs). NNFA's Good
Manufacturing Practices Certification Program involves third-party
inspections of manufacturing facilities to determine whether NNFA specified
performance standards are being met.

These standards include specifications for staff training, cleanliness,
equipment maintenance, record keeping and receiving of raw materials. Once
certified, manufacturers are then allowed to use NNFA's GMP seal on their
products.

"While not all dietary supplement suppliers and manufacturers are NNFA
members, our GMP seal gives consumers a way to identify those products that
are monitored for quality," Seckman said.

Established in 1936, the National Nutritional Foods Association is the
oldest and largest, non-profit trade organization dedicated to protecting
and advancing the natural products industry for both retailers and
suppliers.

SOURCE National Nutritional Foods Association 08/17/2000
CONTACT: Karie Anderson, Communications Manager of the National
Nutritional Foods Association, 949-622-6272, ext. 228/Web site: http://www.nnfa.org/
CO: National Nutritional Foods Association; Food and Drug Administration
ST: California IN: HEA SU: