Swanson Health Products (SHP) is a

natural health Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturopaths. Difficult ...

catalog and Internet marketing company headquartered in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

History

Swanson Health Products launched in 1969 in Fargo by Leland Swanson Sr. A self-taught natural health enthusiast, Swanson cites the influence of

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling ( ; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist and peace activist. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. ''New Scientist'' called him one of the 20 gre ...

Irwin Stone Irwin Stone (1907–1984) was an American biochemist, chemical engineer, and writer. He was the first to use ascorbic acid in the food processing industry as a preservative, and originated and published the hypothesis that humans require much la ...

Roger J. Williams Roger John Williams (August 14, 1893 – February 20, 1988), was an American biochemist. He is known for is work on vitamins and human nutrition. He had leading roles in the discovery of folic acid, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, lipoic acid ...

Paul Bragg Paul Chappuis Bragg (February 6, 1895 – December 7, 1976) was an American alternative health food advocate and fitness enthusiast. Bragg's mentor was Bernarr Macfadden. He wrote on subjects such as detoxification, dieting, fasting, longevity, ...

, and

Adelle Davis Adelle Davis (25 February 1904 – 31 May 1974) was an American writer and nutritionist, considered "the most famous nutritionist in the early to mid-20th century." She was an advocate for improved health through better nutrition. She wrote an e ...

. Swanson's personal regimen began with

vitamin E Vitamin E is a group of eight compounds related in molecular structure that includes four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. The tocopherols function as fat-soluble antioxidants which may help protect cell membranes from reactive oxygen speci ...

, and by 1968, he was a regular user of several vitamins and supplements and began ordering in bulk to maintain his personal supply. Not long after he ordered 5,000 vitamin E capsules and began selling supplements through the mail. Shortly thereafter, he began publishing small catalogs of his own. By 1980, SHP was operating with about 10 employees from a storefront in downtown Fargo. In 1982 the company moved its mail order manufacturing and shipping operations to a facility. In the 1990s, the company added a website, swansonvitamins.com. SHP moved into a facility in 2001, housing its call center, customer care center, marketing, manufacturing, storage, and shipping operations all under one roof, while maintaining the original storefront. In January 2016, Leland Swanson, Jr. retired and SHP was acquired by Swander Pace Capital, a

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm specializing in investments in growth-oriented, middle-market consumer-products companies. In January 2019, the company started selling products containing

cannabidiol Cannabidiol (CBD) is a phytocannabinoid, one of 113 identified cannabinoids in ''Cannabis'', along with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and accounts for up to 40% of the plant's extract. Medically, it is an anticonvulsant used to treat multiple f ...

from industrial

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

, which was federally legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Products and quality control

Swanson Health Products carries more than 26,000 products, ranging from vitamins and supplements to "eco-friendly" home cleaning products. The company has more than 20 Swanson-branded lines that cover natural health products as well as some over-the-counter drugs and

organic foods Organic food, also known as ecological or biological food, refers to foods and beverages produced using methods that comply with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resou ...

. Since 2001, SHP has participated in independent third-party

Good Manufacturing Practices Current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) are those conforming to the guidelines recommended by relevant agencies. Those agencies control the authorization and licensing of the manufacture and sale of food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceutic ...

(GMP) audits to maintain high-quality finished products. SHP submits its dietary supplements to

ConsumerLab.com ConsumerLab.com, LLC. is a privately held American company registered in White Plains, NY. It is a publisher of test results on health, wellness, and nutrition products. Consumer Labs is not a laboratory, but contracts studies to outside testing ...

testing for third-party reviews of safety and efficacy. ConsumerLab.com tested only 25 of Swanson's 26,000+ supplements as of 9/8/2016.

FDA actions

Swanson Health Products has had a few encounters with the

United States Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

(FDA), which oversees the marketing and labeling of dietary supplements to ensure they are not labeled as unapproved drugs. In 2007, SHP received a warning letter from the FDA stating that the company was selling an unapproved version of the prescription cholesterol drug called

Mevacor Lovastatin, sold under the brand name Mevacor among others, is a statin medication, to treat high blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Its use is recommended together with lifestyle changes. It is taken by mouth. ...

. FDA laboratory analysis determined that two of SHP's

red yeast rice Red yeast rice or red rice ''koji'' is a bright reddish purple fermented rice, which acquires its color from being cultivated with the mold '' Monascus purpureus''. Red yeast rice is what is referred to as a '' kōji'' in Japanese, meaning "gr ...

supplements contained significant amounts of

lovastatin Lovastatin, sold under the brand name Mevacor among others, is a statin medication, to treat high blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Its use is recommended together with lifestyle changes. It is taken by mouth. ...

, the active ingredient in Mevacor and its generic counterparts. The FDA letter stated, “Because Red Yeast Rice and Red Yeast Rice/Policosanol Complex contain red yeast rice with enhanced or added lovastatin and bear claims about lipid control and other cardiovascular benefits supplied by this ingredient, they cannot be marketed as dietary supplements.”

References

External links

* {{Official website Naturopathy Retail companies of the United States Companies based in Fargo–Moorhead Health food stores Retail companies established in 1969