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Jon Benninger
Jon Benninger is the director of business development at Virgo Publishing, producers of the SupplySide trade shows, Natural Products Insider magazine, Natural Products Marketplace magazine, and Food Product Design magazine. His responsibilities include strategic planning, industry outreach, content development, and new business development. Benninger entered the natural products industry in 1990 and joined Virgo in 1995 as the founding editor of Health Supplement Retailer magazine, now Natural Products Marketplace. He is an active member of many associations, including the American Botanical Council (ABC), American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and Natural Products Association (NPA). Benninger has given presentations on the natural products industry in Japan, India, Mexico and before the Food, Drug and Law Institute. He served as president of the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance and as a board member of Citizens For Health and the Natural Products Foundation.

Supplement makes HIV H1N1 and Cancer claim

December 15, 2009 Comments
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File this one under "why some people think the supplement industry is unregulated". I had to click on the link that someone posted in a Linked In group (not our SupplySide group) that promoted a nutritional product to treat HIV, H1N1, cancer and other diseases. And the website did not disappoint. Sure enough, the breakthrough product was good for all of these ailments and available for only $28! And in case I had any doubts about the product, the company was kind enough to provide video testimonials of cancer survival. Clearly, these are egregious violations of the law. It is this kind of behavior that critics of the supplements use to defend their accusations that the industry is unregulated and full of snake oil. I sent an email with this company's website to the FDA and the FTC earlier today, noting the claims for HIV, H1N1 and cancer. If this company is allowed to continue selling this product without objection by the regulatory agencies, then in fact the industry is unregulated. Not because the regulations do not exist, but because the regulators do not enforce them. I will keep an eye on this one and report back from time to time. Let's see if we really are regulated.
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