GNC To Card Minors

PITTSBURGH--General Nutrition Centers (GNC) willbegin checking customer ID to verify the shopper is 18 years or older whenbuying products intended for adult use. Affected GNC products include thosecontaining ephedra, kava, melatonin, androstenedione or synephrine, which allhave warning labels regarding underage usage.

"If you look at any GNC product with any of thoseingredients in it, there will be a warning that says the product is not intendedfor anyone under 18," GNC spokeswoman Stephanie Mangini told INSIDER.

This is one of only a few initiatives launched by GNC Nov. 6under its new GNC Nutritional Supplement Bill of Rights. Additionally, the chainwill be reviewing its labeling practices to ensure consumers receivecomprehensive information about GNC supplements. As part of GNC's Smart Labelprogram, the chain will review its current labeling practices by utilizingcustomer research feedback from nutritional experts.

Under its self-imposed bill of rights, GNC promises the customerhas the right:

In an interview that appeared in the Nov. 7 issue of The WallStreet Journal (www.wsj.com), GNC Presidentand Chief Executive Officer Michael Meyers said that the chain wants to makecertain products intended for use by adults are not sold to minors. He saw nodifference in carding for supplements and carding for liquor or cigarettes. AsMeyers said in an interview appearing in the Nov. 7 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette(www.post-gazette.com), "Howwould a customer feel if he went to a liquor store and caught teenagers beingsold liquor?"

Some media reports cite recent state laws regarding ephedra andsteroid precursors as the impetus behind GNC's latest policies. However, GNC (www.gnc.com)stated these laws did not necessarily have an effect on the chain's decision."This was something that started a year ago with consumer research,"Mangini said. "We are putting 300-percent more information into our stores,because that's what consumers have asked for. ... We are the leaders and holdnearly 10 percent of the market place, and we knew we had to be responsible.While the federal regulations do not require us to card for certain productseven if there is a label on them, we decided to take that to the nextlevel."

Is GNC concerned that the new carding policy will turn businessaway? "That's not a concern of ours," Mangini said. "We want tobe a trusted source. We're not looking at the competition. ... This is the rightthing to do as the industry leader."

Industry organizations found GNC's news encouraging. "We'revery supportive of any effort to help consumers make informed choices aboutdietary supplements," said Tracy Taylor, a spokesperson for the NationalNutritional Foods Association (NNFA). "GNC's Nutritional Supplements Billof Rights [has] some similarities with NNFA's code of ethics. In terms of GNC'scarding program, we have a similar position regarding sports supplements, suchas thermogenics and steroid precursors."

The initiatives are expected to be fully implemented by early2003.