Review by Choice Review
Anyone curious about the history of the advertising, sale, and regulation of self-prescribed vitamins will find this an interesting book. Apple has prepared a well-presented and balanced account of how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has attempted to regulate vitamin sales, and the problems encountered in doing so. The author has not judged whether vitamins are necessary, but presents the controversy raging over their regulation. She offers no comments on the dangers of megadoses of vitamins; it was expected that this would be part of any story about control of vitamin advertising and sales. An excellent addition to the literature on selling nutrition and health to the general public. All levels. N. Duran Illinois State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
The vitamin industry made more than $4 billion in 1994. Apple shows how marketing, the clever use of science, and political pressure on legislatures and the Food and Drug Administration have enabled vitamin manufacturing companies to swell their profits for 70 years. The question underlying the whole exposition is why people buy vitamins, and Apple's answers make one wonder about both the herd instinct and individual gullibility. Apple ranges through substances, from cod-liver oil to pure vitamin E, and uses such companies as Miles Laboratories and Pannett to illustrate the industry's various approaches to pushing vitamins. One of the most interesting stories she tells concerns Harry Steenbock, vitamin D, and patent questions; and one of the bitterest struggles she discusses raged between drugstores and grocery stores over who could legitimately sell vitamins. In her thoughtful, well-documented text, Apple also explores the American Medical Association's pro and con stands on vitamins, as well as the matter of Linus Pauling, Frederick Stare, and vitamin C. --William Beatty
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
