Posted on 06/27/2003 7:26:32 PM PDT by doug from upland
CARLSBAD ---- The offices and business records of Seasilver USA Inc. in Carlsbad were seized by federal officials as part of a legal action against the company more than a year after its product, a dietary supplement called Seasilver, became the subject of a strongly worded warning from the Food and Drug Administration.
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A letter from FDA District Director Alonza Cruse to Jason Berkes, president of the Seasilver company and of AmericAloe Inc., which manufactures the product for Seasilver USA, referred to the product, which it charged is advertised to treat or cure 650 diseases, including cancer and AIDS, as "misbranded" and "false and misleading."
According to the letter, the product labeling and claims made in product literature cause Seasilver to be classified as a drug under existing federal law.
"New drugs may not be legally marketed in the U.S. without an approved New Drug Application," the letter admonished Berkes.
Some instructions
No executive of Seasilver or its court-appointed receiver has returned repeated calls to their offices. Similarly, an attempt to talk with Jason or Bela Berkes ---- the founder ---- at their homes failed.
Employees of Seasilver USA have told the North County Times that they were instructed during training not to say that the product cures any medical condition, and they insist that product labeling and literature are devoid of such claims.
But the warning letter in April 2002 cited as false or misleading claims such statements as "reduces risk of heart disease ... reduces risk of stroke ... reduces risk of cancer." The literature also states that Seasilver or its ingredients will "balance your body chemistry," which it touts as a benefit.
It specifically says that the product will balance blood sugar, which it identifies as a benefit for people with hypoglycemia and diabetes; that it will improve digestion; normalize weight; relieve "all inflammatory conditions"; and promote well-being.
More benefits
The literature also states that Seasilver provides relief from allergies, combats the side effects of alcohol and drugs, reduces the risk of environmental pollution, strengthens the immune system , retards aging, improves memory, and "contains every nutrient known to man."
As if anticipating the FDA's complaint, the literature says that Seasilver is not a drug but is instead a dietary supplement, and two bottles of Seasilver obtained by the North County Times plainly say "dietary supplement" on the label.
Following the filing of a Federal Trade Commission suit against the company on June 12 and issuance of a temporary restraining order the next day appointing a receiver to take control of the company's property and records, U.S. marshals on Tuesday seized the company's $5.3 million inventory of Seasilver.
The FDA filed a separate complaint Monday alleging ongoing sanitation problems at the manufacturing facility where Seasilver is made. The FDA has previously cited the company for using machinery "that cannot be properly cleaned" and for "permitting its employees to work the production line in street clothes."
No thanks
Production lines where food and food supplements are manufactured must adhere to rigid rules setting standards of cleanliness, including the use of special protective clothing.
"I wouldn't drink it," said Jacqueline Trischman, an assistant professor of chemistry at Cal State San Marcos who specializes in marine natural products chemistry.
"I would say that this product is just taking a mishmash of algae that might have some research basis for what they're saying, but it has no nutritional value," she said.
After listening to a recitation of the ingredients listed on Seasilver's label, Trischman said: "Several of these are algae; you find claims all over the map what benefits you get from them. There are a lot of things in algae you don't want to consume."
One of the ingredients is the underwater equivalent of iceberg lettuce, she said. But phyto silver stumped her.
"You might extract silver from plants, but why? The amount you would get and its activity would be minimal," she said.
The silver standard
She also pointed out that silver is silver, regardless whence it comes. Silver once was found in many pharmaceutical preparations, but a side effect of taking it over a long period of time is discolored skin, and it is therefore almost never used pharmaceutically nowadays.
Altogether, 18 ingredients are listed on the Seasilver bottle label ---- including "water extract," which the label says is 40 proof. Those ingredients are claimed to supply 13 vitamins, four macrominerals, 43 trace minerals, 24 amino acids, four enzymes, five co-enzymes and four bioelements.
Trischman noted that the co-enzymes listed on the label are ubiquitous, and most people get more than they need just from eating junk food.
A Seasilver booth at the San Diego County Fair opened for business as usual Thursday morning, but by afternoon had shut down.
Neither Jason Berkes nor any official spokesperson for Seasilver USA could be reached for reaction to the government's charges.
Contact staff writer Edmond Jacoby at (760) 739-6675 or ejacoby@nctimes.com.
Sounds like George Noory is gonna hafta drum up a new sponsor....
BTW, George has been on vacation all week,
and they've been rebroadcasting "best-ofs".
But tonight, Art Bell is back as a guest host!!!
Wooohooo!!!!
couldn't find it; found these tho'...
and
Couldn't find him, but look at this poor lady:
She, like the Montana guy, drank a quack medicine called colloidal silver and ended up looking like a cadaver for the rest of her life.
I'm waiting for all the alternative medicine true believers on FR to pop up and tell us why this stuff is so great. I'm sure it wasn't cheap, either. Greedy doctors ain't got nothing on greedy quack medicine peddlers.
-ccm
Yeah, but he was doing that "remote viewing" stuff and put me right to sleep.
Tonight Linda Moulton Howe is on during the first hour with an update on crop circles and the 2nd hour is Tesla expert John Hutchison talking about zero point energy cells.
I suppose it depends what you're interested in, but tonight sounds much better IMHO.
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