From The December 2000 Issue of Nutrition Science News

Supplements Firms Settle Charges

Washington—A higher court here ruled that six European and Japanese pharmaceutical companies will pay 23 U.S. states $340 million to resolve charges of fixing prices of vitamin premixes containing vitamins A, B2, B5, C, E and beta-carotene.

The prices reflected only "one or two pennies per consumer," according to one state attorney general. Of the settlement $107 million will go to wholesalers and distributors. An identical amount will go to charities because it would be impossible to identify all end users who paid extra for foods and juices supplemented with the vitamins. In an unrelated settlement, Salt Lake City-based Weider Nutrition International was fined $400,000 to settle charges it made unsubstantiated claims about two weight-loss supplements.