Well those claims had to be litigated! Yes, that’s right, the FDA did not want these claims to be freely disseminated! The FDA had to be SUED, and the courts agreed that this information should be allowed to be given to the public. Since these claims were allowed by the courts, these Birth Defects have declined by 50-70% in the US and parts of Canada! Just think of the many thousands of children born healthy that would not have been with out the dissemination of this information! Now many industrialized nations are disseminating this information. We believe that the public is better off by getting more information to better come to an educated decision regarding their own health. The FDA believes the public’s access to health information should be limited to what The FDA allows, which is quite limited.

Now, remember that 1200 page book, “Diseases of Exotic Animals”, Youngevity® and the Health Claim Petitions are just an extension of Dr. Wallach’s vision of getting more life saving nutrition information to the general public.

The Authorized Health Claims we have achieved don’t give us any direct advantage. These Claims are allowed for use by anyone if their products qualify for them. So we can’t patent or copyright these claims like the drug companies can to protect their profitability. We spend 10s of thousands of dollars just gathering the independent information for each Claim, and we have spent 100s of thousands of dollars on these claims!

Why?

Well the question to us is, why don’t other companies do this? There are several answers I have been given, from "it’s too expensive" to “they don’t want to rock the boat”. But is this information important? You BET it is! Remember all those kids and families that are better off because of simply getting Folic Acid information? Dr. Wallach and Youngevity® spent a ton of money to get the Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acid Claims authorized. Kraft Foods, a 30 Billion Dollar a year global company, submitted a letter to the FDA stating that an EFA claim would be a good thing. I don’t know how much that letter cost, but I’m sure Dr. Wallach and American Longevity spent much more even though Kraft Foods is a MUCH larger company. Even the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) from the White House was urging the FDA to amend the Dietary Guidelines and to get the information out about the importance of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids, yet it took the Youngevity® Petition to get the claim approved!

There are 100s of beneficial nutrients and many of them have multiple beneficial effects for the human body which means there are many more of these claims that must be filed.

The Claims we have gotten authorized so far have to do with reducing the risk of certain Cancers by consuming the Trace Mineral Selenium and reducing the risks of CHD or Cardiovascular Heart Disease by consuming EPA and DHA which are Essential Fatty Acids primarily found in Fish Oils. CHD is this country’s leading cause of Death! More than 500,000 Americans Die each year from it. Just think if we could reduce the occurrence of these deaths by 50-70% simply by educating the public! Durk Pearson, an MIT, PHD. Says that we may be able to reduce the risk of CHD by as much as 80% just with the proper Fish Oils and getting this information out to the Public. Now that we have achieved this Health Claim Petition for Omega-3 Essential Fatty acids and reducing the risks of CHD, Europe may adopt this claim as well. What if we only saved a small percentage of these Lives each year? Would it be worth it? OF COURSE! We now have more Claims under consideration as well and there will be more!

Dr. Wallach and Youngevity® have not only Sued the FDA, they have defended the FDA and the Health Claim Petition Process as well. The FDA was sued by a group, the CSPI, which was claiming that the Health Claim Petition Process violated the FDA guidelines.

Youngevity® and Dr. Wallach wanted to help ensure this information continued to be available to the public, so they asked the court to be co-defendants with the FDA. By doing this, they could help to protect the Health Claim Petition Process. Ultimately The FDA, Youngevity®, Dr. Wallach and others were successful in defending The Health Claim Petition Process, but we all know that we will have to be diligent in always defending this process. We know there will always be groups that want to limit your access to these nutrients and this information.
When people think Dr. Wallach or Youngevity® are in the Nutrition Business to only make money, I have to disagree! It is to get this information to the public so they may use it to make a better-informed decision regarding their own health. As long as there are those that would want to limit your access to these nutrients and this information, we will be there to defend your rights to have access to them!

By the way, that 1200 page book, “Diseases of Exotic Animals”, is now recommended by the Smithsonian Institute for all Zoological Gardens and Aquariums! In 2003, the FDA authorized a First Ever Health Claim for Selenium, submitted by Dr. Wallach and Youngevity® for the Trace Minerals anti-carcinogenic effects in the body!