Jarrad, You clearly do have an issue with USN. Have you spoken to/ communicated with any other brand making similar products aimed at children from brands like Aspen, Cipla etc? Most likely not, because they are considered to be among some of the largest pharmaceutical brands that you as a doctor prescribe. Would going against them jeopardize your business? Most likely. Instead, you take issue with brands in co-related industries that have no impact on your career. Rather, targeting the supplement industry means that you have a voice that can be heard without negative influence on your earnings. And you can openly use medium like Twitter to question, which is no doubt very good, but using a false name (Timmy Henman) instead of your own does mean that you are not quite credible enough. I also have'nt seen you taking on any other non-pharmaceutical supplement brands in the local supplement market, so you clearly have it in for USN. There is a marketplace for children's supplementation. Sporty Kids is not the first product in this arena, and I'm sure that it wont be the last. I'm a parent, and between trying as far as possible to guarantee very good, solid nutritional practices for my child, I know there will be instances where it is not practical or reasonable to do so. Would I give her this product? ABSOLUTELY! No artificial flavourants, colourants or sweeteners sounds good. A small amount of brown sugar (colour is irrelevant) is a whole lot better than anything else. Parents fill their children up with soda's, milk shakes, take away's that when you break them down all of a sudden seem like poison compared to a product that is supposed to be used as required (no necessarily daily) - did you read the packaging, or are you listening to Dr Jon Patricious? I agree that the supplement industry should be regulated, and this is another government failure from the MCC. however, there is more than enough practical application of supplementation to prove that this industry is beneficial. The fact is that the consumers/athletes demand quality from raw materials through to manufacture, and pharmaceutical labs offer QC protocols that cannot be matched in small private enterprise means that brands like USN and many others make use of GMP and MCC approved pharmaceutical labs for production. And it is here, more than anywhere where the risk of contamination is at its greatest. Don't get me wrong, it shouldn't happen at all, but it does happen unintentionally. I follow a number of local brands on social media, and I know for a fact that brands like USN are working towards Informed Choice/ Sport registration with the HFL Sports Science labs in the UK, and I keep a keen eye on the industry locally an internationally. Have you ever asked to meet with the USN to discuss their testing protocols, QC measures etc, or are you going to continue on a vendetta with no real insight? It sounds like another SASMA fueled propaganda story to me! There are always two sides to every story, and if you are not going to actually engage in industry conversion, how do you expect to see any change? If my business was under threat by a unknown troll on social media, I don't think I would be too happy either. How about you get in touch with the leading local and imported brands, open up doorways to have round table discussions and plan a way forward instead of slinging mud to advance your status with your peers? Don't see this as an attack against you, see this as constructive criticism to actually change something.
