Nutraceuticals International raw material supplier by Ray Sahelian, M.D. Vickery Romeo Klivinyi charged by FTC for false advertising
In my opinion, Nutraceuticals International
cannot be trusted as a source of ingredients. Nutraceuticals International
is located at 11 Wallace Street Elmwood Park NJ 07407.
This company is a supplier of botanical extracts, amino acids, and specialty
ingredients. Some of the staff at Nutraceuticals International used to
work years ago for an ingredient supply company named Stella Labs which, to the
best of my knowledge, is no
longer active.
This is an email that was sent to me in June 2008: "Nutraceuticals
International has bulk supplies of the highest quality concentrated botanical
extracts, amino acids, and specialty ingredients."
My experience has been different. Nutraceuticals International twice
sent cheap raw materials to Physician Formulas, a company for which I
consult. I explain below.
April 2009 - FTC charges
Nutraceuticals International with false advertising
The Federal Trade Commission charged a group of Delaware-based supplement
suppliers with making false and deceptive claims surrounding the sale of hoodia
gordonii, or in some cases, an adulterated hoodia product. The complaint names
four individuals who were employed by Nutraceuticals International or Stella
Labs as being the parties liable for the charges. The individuals allegedly
provided customers with documents touting the following false claims: that it
would enable consumers to lose weight and suppress appetites.
The complaint names Delaware-based Nutraceuticals International, LLC, New Jersey-based Stella Labs, LLC, and four individuals as liable for these charges. The individual defendants are David J. Romeo, whom the complaint identifies as controlling both companies; and Deborah B. Vickery, Craig Payton, and Zoltan Klivinyi, who are officers or directors of one or both companies.
Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. David J. Romeo,
individually, and in his capacity as an officer of Stella Labs, LLC, and
Nutraceuticals International, LLC, Stella Labs, LLC, a limited liability
company, Nutraceuticals International, LLC, a limited liability company, Deborah
B. Vickery, individually and as an employee of Stella Labs and Nutraceuticals,
V. Craig Payton, individually, and in his capacity as an officer of Stella Labs,
LLC, and Zoltan Klivinyi, individually, and in his capacity as an officer of
Nutraceuticals International, LLC., Defendants
(United States District Court for the District of New Jersey)
Nutraceuticals International company staff
Deborah Vickery is VP of product development (888) 541-1284. Deborah B. Vickery,
became involved with Nutraceuticals International in 2007 as Director of
Marketing and Product Development. She is also a partner.
Zoltan Klivinyi is managing director and partner
and principle of Nutraceuticals International
Don Bosco
Sean Colgan as Western US Territory Sales Manager
Lorraine Samaan sales manager
Christine Walters, West Coast sales.
Nutraceuticals international
sends cheap turmeric instead of expensive curcumin, twice!
In October of 2007 and again in January of 2008, Nutraceuticals
international shipped turmeric rather than curcumin 95 percent to Physician
Formulas. Turmeric costs less than 5 dollars a kilo while curcumin 95% costs
about 50 dollars a kilo. I can understand a mistake being made once, but I am
puzzled how this could occur twice.
Both times Nutraceuticals international sent certificates of
analysis that indicated their product was curcumin 95%. However, when the raw
materials were tested, both times the HPLC test showed they were plain turmeric,
not curcumin 95%. Nutraceuticals International sold Physician Formulas turmeric
worth less than 5 dollars a kilo and charged about 45 dollars a kilo.
In April 2008 Nutraceuticals International
associates with Amruta Herbals
2008-04-04 - Nutraceuticals International
Nutraceuticals International LLC. and Amruta Herbals Pvt. Ltd. (AHPL), a major
manufacturer of the highest quality Ayurvedic Herbal Extracts (GMP Certified /
ISO 9000-2001 Certified Facility in INDORE) have announced the formation of a
joint venture to promote a variety of "new" Ancient Ayurvedic Herbal Extracts
for finished goods manufacturers and consumers. Zoltan Klivinyi, the principle
of NI (Based in BUDAPEST) states, "Premium quality, consistency in supply,
impeccable quality standards, Amruta provides us with the quality control we
seek for our clients from the beginning to the end of the extraction process."
FucoPure 10% Fucoxanthin Extract from the Sea of Japan is Now Being Made
exclusively for Nutraceuticals International by Amruta Herbals Pvt. Ltd.
Emails
Q. I wonder if you know whether Nutraceuticals
International fucoxanthin 10 % actually is what it claims (a 10 % extract) and
not just powdered wakame. What test would be needed to find out that it is?
A. I do not have first hand knowledge on the purity and accuracy of
Nutraceuticals International fucoxanthin 10 %. The best way to find out is to
send a sample to a lab that does HPLC testing.
I was kind of amused by your report on Nutraceuticals
International, not only can’t they be trusted, these so and so’s have been
importing Ephedrine HCL by mislabeling it as Sida cordifolia, from a company in
India called Amurta Herbals, Indore, India. I took up the issue of ephedrine
years ago with the FDA and it was eventually restricted, however companies like
Nutraceutical & Amurta Herbals connive to circumvent the laws and one day the
industry is going to have more stones thrown at it just because of some greedy
unethical people like these. The manufacturer has no technical expertise besides
mixing of Ephedrine HCl with a herb base and NI is aware of this as they are the
ones to have proposed the process!!. I hope someone can do something about this
before the industry is faced with another MusceTech kind of embarrassment. Email
received October 2009 and it has been saved.
See a list of
vitamin companies.