Nutrition 21 Sues InterHealth Over Ad Claims

PURCHASE, N.Y.--Nutrition 21 announced April 28 it filed suit against Benicia, Calif.-based InterHealth Nutraceuticals for damages from false and misleading advertising. As a result, Nutrition 21 is asking the court to order InterHealth to run or pay for corrective advertising and to pay treble damages to Nutrition 21. The complaint was filed April 24 in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.

The basis of the complaint is safety and bioavailability claims made in InterHealth advertisements about its ChromeMate® niacin-bound chromium compared to chromium picolinate. Nutrition 21 supplies Chromax® chromium picolinate. "We believe that InterHealth is misrepresenting the studies that it is relying on to support its product safety and bioavailability claims," said Gail Montgomery, chief executive officer (CEO) of Nutrition 21 (www.nutrition21.com).

According to a Nutrition 21 spokeswoman, the company has only started discovery on how extensive the advertising has been; the action permits both companies to subpoena advertising and other documents. She added the advertisements have primarily run in trade magazines targeting the company's customer base of manufacturers.

InterHealth (www.interhealthusa.com) released a statement noting it has turned the matter over to its outside legal counsel. "Nutrition 21 has been our competitor for 15 years, and we are disappointed they feel it is necessary to take this action," said William Seroy, InterHealth's president and CEO. "We are proud of our research reputation and stand firmly by claims made about each and every one of our products."