OpTree

Some scary news today about several of Herbalife’s products as information posted on the infamous Fraud Discovery Institute Website claims that six supplements made by the nutrition and health company possibly contain dangerous amounts of lead.

The letter, posted on the website is attributed to an attorney from Oakland, Christopher Grell, who specializes in product liability. The letter suggests that six of Herbalife’s products contain levels of lead that exceed what is allowed under the California Safe Drinking and Toxic Environment Act of 1994. The act requires that businesses must warn potential consumers if any products contain chemicals known to be toxic or that potentially cause cancer.

I’m sure founder of the Fraud Discovery Institute and self-admitted convicted felon, Barry Minkow, must be thrilled that this letter has surfaced. Minkow if you are not familiar with him, is a San Diego pastor who served prison time for stock fraud and now works to uncover fraudulent activity within the MLM world. Minkow has been a perpetual thorn in the side of the MLM industry and has dedicated his life bringing down MLM companies through any means necessary, even if it means straddling the line of legal and illegal. Minkow was of course not available for comment.

A spokesperson for Herbalife, George Fischer, released a statement via telephone, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which sets dietary guidelines, saying, “the FDA hasn’t established a general limit on lead in foods, but we are certainly well within their suggested guidelines”.

Yet Minkow lists 3 exhibits to back his claim. In Exhibit A - there is a lab report and “expert legal analysis”. The legal analysis was conducted by the law offices of Christopher E. Grell who specializes in ephedra litigation and dietary supplements amongst other things. A little background on Grell. Aside from some pretty interesting libel lawsuits he has crafted, he was also the loser of a case against Megabolife in which he represented a client suing because they allegedly suffered a stroke using the product. Grell’s website was not up and running at the time of us writing this.

In Exhibit B is a letter to Congressman Waxman with some pretty riveting data of Minkow’s discovery and work with FDA registered, independent accredited lab (Analytical Laboratories) in Anaheim, California.

Exhibit C showcases reports from the Journal of Hepatology which give some pretty strong statement to back Minkow;s claims of warnings of dangerous levels of lead.

The six products mentioned in the letter on the Fraud Discovery Institute website are the ShapeWorks Protein Drink Mix, Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix, Tang Kuei Plus herbal tablets, Thermojetics Nature’s Raw Guarana instant tea mix, ShapeWorks Cell Activator and Multivitamin Complex.

The letter on the Fraud Discover Website urged the state of California to require Herbalife to post warning on these products stating that consumption of the products might be dangerous to ones health. Also on the website was a document that they claim came from Analytical Laboratories in Anaheim that showed receipts for testing on the six products and evidence that the supplements do indeed contain lead levels above what is allowed.

This is another tough break for the company which just last month saw stock tumble as news of resume fraud was uncovered by none other than Barry Minkow. Hopefully Herbalife will test their products, provide honest answers to the public and their consumers and take quick action to rectify the problem. There is too much competition out there to sacrifice the safety of the consumer just to save face or make a quick sale. We will keep you posted on any new developments.

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