Metabolife Recalls Bar Containing Excessive Vitamin A

SAN DIEGO--Metabolife International in early May recalled nutritional bars for having too much vitamin A. The company's Metabolife Diet & Energy Bars contained approximately 32,500 IU per bar due to an error by its contract manufacturer, Fairfield, Calif.-based MLO Products Inc. This is more than three times above the recommended upper intake level (UL) of 10,000 IU (or 3,000 mcg/d) for adult consumption.

The major concern is that an overload of vitamin A may lead to severe health problems that include cirrhosis of the liver and bone and cartilage abnormalities. However, no illnesses from this product have been reported so far, according to Metabolife.

During a quality assurance sampling audit, Metabolife discovered the excessive vitamin A, which was confirmed by an independent test ordered by MLO Products. "We are voluntarily recalling this four-month-old product as a responsible company," said David Brown, Metabolife's chief executive officer. The 2-oz. bars were distributed from Dec. 25, 2000, until May 4, 2001, to retail stores nationwide.

According to Doug Williamson, vice president at MLO Products, the error with the bars was unfortunate. He stated that a computer transposition error added too much vitamin A that was supplementing a vitamin premix that was used in the bars. For more information, visitwww.metabolife.com.