If you believe you’re sticking it to\u00a0the system\u00a0by using supps and “natural” cures vs. conventional treatments, think again… According to Associated Press writer, Marilyn Marchione,\u00a0“Big Herba”\u00a0is getting to be as big as “Big Pharma”…and in some cases, they’re one and the same.<\/p>\n
Marchione’s article, “Many Herbal Products Made by Big Pharma<\/a>” makes it clear that a) \u00a0Big Pharma is also a major marketer of supplements\/supp ingredients (as this list of the member companies of the Council for Responsible Nutrition<\/a> makes clear); and b) many of the major supplement brands, such as Nature’s Bounty and Sundown, are owned and operated by corporate conglomerates such as NBTY, Inc.<\/a> (which also owns Solgar, Met-RX, GNC and Ester-C – among others).<\/p>\n I don’t see this as\u00a0alarming, per se,\u00a0because large, established companies are more likely to have good manufacturing practices\u00a0and quality control standards in place.\u00a0 But it’s also clear that the boundary between “alternative” and “mainstream” is a pretty porous one… and may not even exist,\u00a0except as a marketing tool, in specific cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n