Nature's Sunshine Products Are Guaranteed to Be Free of 
Mad Cow Disease (BSE)

As an additional proactive measure to ensure safe products, NSP has obtained a written guarantee from each of our bovine material suppliers that the materials are free from disease. All bovine raw materials used in our products are sourced exclusively from countries deemed by U.S. regulatory authorities to be "BSE-free."

Our gelatin products, including the capsules that encase many of our products, are especially safe from contamination. In addition to the above precautions, we ensure that gelatin of bovine origin we procure has been specially processed at temperatures and pH levels that denature the proteinaceous prions that transmit the disease, should they somehow be present.

Ed Corlett, of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Public Affairs Office, said of Nature's Sunshine Products, "Companies like yours, that take proactive measures to keep the public safe, will prevent the spread of BSE."

For further details, please see the complete statement below.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease)

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), better known to the public as "Mad Cow Disease", has attracted full-scale media attention in the past few weeks and months. The disease is linked to human cases of new-variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD), a progressive disease that affects the nervous system and eventually results in death. Scientific theory is that the human form of mad cow is contracted by eating contaminated beef, and cows contract it by eating feed containing the remains of the nervous systems of BSE-infected cattle. The contaminated feed was exported from Great Britain to Western Europe, where the disease has now spread. Such exports have been halted.

The causative agent responsible for the spread of the disease is yet to be fully understood. Scientists have proposed that a prion (an abnormal proteinaceous compound), capable of causing brain and spinal cells to produce more abnormal prion proteins, is responsible for the devastating effects of the disease. This agent (1) is unusually resistant to heat, ultraviolet light, ionizing radiation, and disinfectants that normally inactivate viruses or bacteria; (2) causes no detectable immune or inflammatory response in the host; (3) cannot be cultured, and (4) is smaller than most viral particles and has not been observed microscopically.¹

The disease evidently infects humans by first entering the bloodstream via a cut or sore in the mouth. It then invades the cerebral-spinal fluid, from which the infectious prions alter the nervous tissue. Over time, the altered nervous tissue breaks down, resulting in the loss of brain and spinal matter and a sponge-like appearance. The infected individual initially becomes confused, then uncoordinated, then immobile, and the inevitable effect of the disease is death.² As of Dec. 28, 2000, 88 cases of nvCJD had been identified in the United Kingdom, one in Ireland, and two in France.³

The manifestation of fatal nvCJD in humans, although rare at the present time, is reason for alarm. Although the USDA works vigilantly to prevent the importation of tainted materials into the United States (and into production facilities such as ours), we as a company feel we should do more, and have done so.

We also understand the need to clarify and mitigate any misunderstandings that may arise within the general public about the safety of our products. NSP has taken steps to protect our customers from BSE for nearly a decade. Despite our stringent dedication to providing BSE-free products, recent media attention regarding BSE has eroded public confidence and increased the concern about the transmission of BSE through dietary supplements.

As an additional proactive measure to ensure safe products, NSP has obtained a written guarantee from each of our bovine material suppliers that the materials are free of disease. All bovine raw materials used in our products are sourced exclusively from countries deemed by U.S. regulatory authorities to be "BSE-free". All products of bovine origin are obtained pursuant to USDA Permits which require documentary evidence of the origin and health of the animals and the absence of any co-mingling during processing with other materials of ruminant origin. Our gelatin products, including the capsules in which our products are encased, are especially safe from contamination. In addition to the above precautions taken, gelatin of bovine origin is specially processed at temperatures and pH levels which denature the proteinaceous prions that transmit the disease, should they somehow be present.

Natures Sunshine Products has complete confidence in every one of our products, and with our continued Quality Assurance methods, our customers can have confidence in the safety of our products as well.

Ed Corlett, of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Public Affairs Office, said of Natures Sunshine Products, "Companies like yours, who take proactive measures to keep the public safe, will prevent the spread of BSE".⁴

Rhea LeMaster
Health Sciences Department
Research and Development

Jerry McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Vice President R&D/QA