Nature's Plus Vitamins/supplements (the Yellow Label Brand)

[paulasimone]

okay, here's the 5 act drama that is my email exchange with Nature's Plus (they're the brand with the yellow labels and the 70's looking font). never did get an answer, so have to assume "unsafe."

- Paula

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>> -----Original Message-----

>> Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 3:14 PM

>> Subject: gluten free cal/mag?

>>

>> Dear Nature's Plus,

>>

>> I like your products, but I have a very common autoimmune disease called

>> Celiac Disease, so I have to be sure that any product I use does not

> contain gluten. Do you have a list of gluten-free products? If you don't yet,

>> could you tell me whether your Cal/Mag supplements are gluten-free?

>>

>> thank you,

>> Paula

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3/6/06

> Quoting Rob Valenti <rvalenti@naturesplus.com>:

>

>> Experience has shown us that inquiries like yours are answered with a

>> greater degree of satisfaction when handled over the telephone. We

>> therefore ask that you please call us at (800) 645-9500 (m-f, 8:45-5:15,

>> eastern standard time), where our knowledgeable customer service staff

> will be happy to answer all of your questions.

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> Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2006 10:43 AM

> To: Rob Valenti

> Subject: RE: gluten free cal/mag?

> Dear Mr. Valenti,

>

> I thought you might want to know that I did call and your customer

> service staff is actually not at all knowledgeable about this question.

> She literally said, "Nope, I don't see it listed there." As in,

> "gluten" isn't listed in the ingredients list. Unfortunately I can't

> continue purchasing your product until you can verify whether or not

> there are any sources of gluten in it. I'm sure you know that some 1 in

> 150 Americans has gluten sensitivity (although most of these cases are

> undiagnosed). And we actually need to purchase *more* vitamins and

> supplements than other people because of our problems with nutrient

> absorption. It would be great if Nature's Plus could put together

> information about the gluten content of their products - those of us

> with celiac share such information through discussion boards and

> meeting groups, and I would be pleased to spread the word about which

> of your supplements is gluten-free.

>

> thanks for your help,

> Paula

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3/17/06

Quoting Rob Valenti <rvalenti@naturesplus.com>:

> If you provide us with your phone number [and a good time to call], I will

> personally make sure the right person calls you back promptly to fully

> address your concerns.

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3/18/2006

Dear Mr. Valenti -

(I understand you are probably just following company policy - please convey this email exchange to whomever actually decides that policy.)

This is getting silly. Nature's Plus takes the time to write me back again only to tell me to make a phone appointment with "the right person" (?!?) just to get an answer to one simple question about one particular supplement - are there any ingredients in your cal/mag supplements that are derived from wheat, barley, rye, or oats?

The answer can only be "yes", "no", or "we don't know". I don't understand why we're having this lengthy email exchange and Nature's Plus wants me to make a phone appointment instead of just saying "yes", "no", or "we don't know." (even "we don't know" would be okay - it would mean i can't use your supplements because you can't verify the sources of some ingredients, but at least i wouldn't be wasting time playing "office" here.)

Maybe Nature's Plus is afraid of some sort of liability if it replies in writing? (That seems to be the subtext of the insulting "experience has shown...greater satisfaction" line in the original email response.) In any case, I give up on trying to get a straight answer from Nature's Plus. I've already switched to another cal/mag supplement that says gluten-free on the bottle, so it's no big deal to me. But Nature's Plus really should reconsider how it handles such inquiries. If this is all just a CYA thing the lawyers recommended, just do it upfront on the website, the phone (or even, most conveniently, the bottle) and say "we can't guarantee gluten-free" or something like that instead of this silly run-around, which must be as much a waste of your administrative resources as of my time.

thank you for your time,

Paula

cc: celiac discussion groups

[Canadian Karen]

Paula,

You hit the nail on the head with regards to your presumption that they don't want to put ANYTHING in writing for fear of litigation.

One question I do have though for our American friends. With regard to your new labelling laws, does it also apply to naturopathic supplements, and generally the stuff in health food stores that usually is not regulated properly anyway? Just curious.....

Karen

[skinnyminny]

I use natures plus vitamins and they say they are vegan free of gluten is also listed on the bottle..

[VydorScope]

Paula,

You hit the nail on the head with regards to your presumption that they don't want to put ANYTHING in writing for fear of litigation.

One question I do have though for our American friends. With regard to your new labelling laws, does it also apply to naturopathic supplements, and generally the stuff in health food stores that usually is not regulated properly anyway? Just curious.....

Karen

No, the law only apples to prepackaged foods.