Open Letter to the Natural Health Trade from Integrated Health Retailer (ihr)

In Defense of Natural Health Retailing -

A Rebuttal to the CBC Attack on Health Retailers

On Tuesday, June 8, 2010 CBC news published an article entitled “Health food store advice not scientific: study.” This reported on an article from the December 2009 edition of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (JACN), which is the house organ of the American College of Nutrition (ACN) representing professional nutritionists. Though the JACN is supposed to be a bi-monthly publication, there has not been another issue since the December 2009 edition. The ACN is heavily supported by funding supplied by pharmaceutical and mega-food processors. In 2006, Integrity in Science cited the JACN for failing to reveal “that its editor and several authors had long standing ties to the food industry.”1 The ACN and nutritionists associated with it have long been outspoken and persistent critics of the natural health industry, which they view as a threat to their business interests.

The JACN article reported on by the CBC is “Advice on Dietary Supplements: A Comparison of Health Food Stores and Pharmacies in Canada,” the lead author being Norman Temple, PhD, a professor of nutrition at Athabasca University, Alberta. Between 2002 and 2008, thirty-nine undergraduate nutrition course students visited 192 health retailers and 56 pharmacies across Canada and asked questions on themes such as “lecithin (for improved memory), n=25” or “how to improve memory, n=19.” Instruction to students is not disclosed; only sample questions are disclosed in the article. If forms were employed to record answers, they are not supplied in the final publication. No profiles of the stores are given, nor their locations. No controls for subjectivity or bias are reported. Answers to questions were “graded for accuracy” according to “reliable Web sites” such as MEDLINE2 or the American Dietetic Association3. Again, no specifics at all are given, so there is no way of knowing objectively what the standards were. In pharmacies, no distinction is recorded between those questions posed to and answers given by pharmacists and non-pharmacists. Yet, the study concludes that health food stores gave 88% poor answers, while pharmacies gave 68% good answers.

Even though the authors caution that “we cannot be certain that all reporting was done accurately” and that “another possible source of error is in the interpretation of results” none of this is reflected in the unattributed CBC article that quotes Dr. Temple as dismissing health store staff as being “no more qualified than somebody pouring coffee in Tim Hortons.”

Until yesterday this article has failed to achieve a single professional citation and zero media coverage. When something like this suddenly makes CBC headlines with author’s quotes this suspicious. Both the original article and the CBC report were and are synchronized bias dressed up as “objective” and “scientific.”

If this is the level and style that enemies of natural health must resort to then we should actually be encouraged. If they had solid evidence, they would lead with it. If it was real and honest news reporting, we would have seen it months ago, and with an author’s name on it. Integrated Health Retailer condemns this as a choreographed stunt. We express our solidarity with all natural retailers and all staff whom we respect and have confidence in. Take heart.
Citations upon request


For further information: Robert McMaster, editor, Telephone 416.203.7900 ext 6102, email: Robert@rivegauchemedia.com