EAS, 7-Eleven Say No to Ephedra

GOLDEN, Colo.--EAS and 7-Eleven announced Jan. 22 they would no longer sell ephedra-based products. According to a joint release, EAS ceased production of its ephedra dietary supplements in 2002, and one of its major customers, the 5,300-strong 7-Eleven, advised all of its locations to stop sale of all ephedra products.

"This is a consumer-driven decision for EAS," stated Jim Heidenreich, EAS vice president of marketing. "We believe consumers are showing a strong preference for non-ephedra weight management products."

In tandem with its withdrawal from the ephedra market, EAS announced a new non-ephedra fat-burning supplement, Thermo DynamX, which contains green tea, maté and Citrus aurantium. It will become available to the public in March, when stores will have probably run out of existing EAS ephedra products.

David Lumley, president of EAS, told the Associated Press (AP) that the liability, insurance and regulatory issues surrounding the herb factored into the decision to discontinue ephedra-based products. "The ephedra-based product probably doesn't have a bright future," Lumley said. "It just doesn't make sense to stay in it."

EAS stopped buying ephedra for its products in August, and 7-Eleven stopped selling ephedra-based products effective Nov. 1. In January, the convenience store chain plans to introduce non-ephedra single-serve packets, which is how these products are sold at 7-Elevens nationwide. "It looks like the non-ephedra products are being sold at the same pace as ephedra products so far," a 7-Eleven spokesperson told INSIDER.

In fact, 7-Eleven's director of nonfood products, Alan Beach, told AP that sales of all dietary supplements are growing at a rate of up to 5 percent in the chain. In terms of ephedra sales, approximately 2.5 percent of EAS's $300 million annual revenue came from ephedra-based products.

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