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Vitacost and NSI


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41 replies to this topic

#31 purerealm

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Posted 28 May 2007 - 11:52 AM

man the first thing you read about in their catalog is how a team of specialized doctors endorse all of their NSI products! NSI has a really good marketing team, their website is much more attractive and sophisticated than iherb, besides being much easier to use. i might just have to avoid the NSI products as they carry a nice selection of a lot of different things, at the best prices that i can find on the net.

btw for NA-RALA you actually recommended the product despite reviewing it 1/5 stars.

#32 david ellis

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Posted 28 May 2007 - 06:52 PM

Purerealm, NSI can take up to 72 hours to post a review. My reviews and my complaints have not yet been acted on. I never said do not buy at NSI. I said "lets see what happens". I like buying at NSI, but I have got problems with them. They look like a first class outfit, and I hope that they are so we can resolve this stuff.

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#33 purerealm

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Posted 29 May 2007 - 07:05 AM

my point was that they're very deceptive, but that if you're not buying NSI products you should be fine.

#34 david ellis

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Posted 29 May 2007 - 03:18 PM

Ok, so we are on the same page. I like their business model, but finding so many discrepancies at first look, I am doubtful they are sincere about followthru. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

#35 david ellis

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Posted 05 June 2007 - 06:36 PM

From my -5/27/07 post -
" Let's see what happens. I wrote reviews and notified management about 3 problems I had with NSI. My B-100 formula has (according to the label) 100 mgs of biotin. That's 33,340% of the daily requirement. I don't know whether its a typo (maybe mcgs instead of mgs) or the pill really has 100 mgs. But from reading the way Custom Capsule labels are printed/calculated by computer control, the product could really have 100 mgs of biotin.

I also was tricked by their use of serving size on the front label. I thought I bought 200 1800 mg pills of l-arginine. And got 100 1,800 mg servings. So I wrote what I thought.
,
And I reviewed the scam using the weight of the molecule (Na-R-ALA) instead of the active ingredient weight. An apparent 100 mg serving was actually only a 70 mg serving of R-ALA.

I posted on-line reviews giving the three products one star. And I had the option to tell NSI management, so I did. The on-line reviews have a normal 72 hour approval period. I expect with the holiday weekend it will take more than 72 hours to reply, and maybe even publish my reviews. ohmy.gif I am suspicious about the high ratings on the NSI site.

I got a quality questionaire email after my order a few weeks ago. I notified NSI then about the B100 and arginine, but have never received a reply. The longer I waited the more steamed I got, so a little escalation. But no more escalation, I have better things to do. I did like buying other folk's products from them, but now I don't know."


No surprise, the reviews I posted were never approved. They had my email address so they could have communicated with me. So I called them and told them about my problems with B100 and l'arginine. The clerk agreed that using the serving size on the same line as the number of capsules was misleading. He also agreed that the B-100 biotin was mislabeled, containing 100 mcgs, not 100 mgs. But, NSI doesn't allow returns after 30 days, so an authorization to return was not given. LEF and Puritan allow returns as long as the freshness dates are not expired.

My Sunday paper had an article about vitamins from China. The situation in China reminds me of 1906's Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". China now makes almost all of the world's vitamin C. (A small Dutch firm still makes some). They have used their market position to double vitamin C prices. The head of their "FDA" was recently sentenced to death for accepting hundreds of thousands in bribes. 60% of the chinese are afraid of adulterated foods and medicines.

I am also reminded of the 37 people that died and 1500 permanently disabled as a result of some bad tryptophan from Japan in the late 1980s. The Japanese firm didn't share its experience with investigators so very little was learned about how to prevent future bioengineering disasters. I fully expect China to not exceed Japan's performance if a similar event happens.

link
http://www.holisticm...m/ge/trypt.html


I agree now 100% with dillon's warning about the lack of GMP and vitamins sourced from China.

dillon's post
" Vitacost is the marketing arm of NSI.

Vitacost is a great place to buy many different brands of supplements, at prices similar to IHERB.COM.

I generally go to IHERB first, as shipping at IHERB is free if you buy over $60 worth of products.

If IHERB doesn't carry something, my next stop is Vitacost. Vitacost charges a reasonable $4.99 shipping for all size orders.

Both IHERB and VITACOST tend to ship their orders out immediately. Vitacost is located in Florida, and IHERB in Southern California, so if you're located closer to one than the other, you'll tend to receive your order faster from the company located closest to you.

HOWEVER... I only buy name brand supplements (GMP companies that I know and trust, like Jarrow, Country Life, Nature's Way, etc) from VITACOST, as opposed to their own NSI brand.

NSI brand items MAY be fine, but there's no way for me to know this. They do NOT follow GMP practices (I called and asked, after not seeing it listed on their website.) NSI products are made in Asia (China, if I recall). This is obviously a red-flag, and I'd prefer to buy from manufacturer's that I know and trust."
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#36 mirian

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Posted 16 June 2007 - 04:52 PM

What evidence do you have that Vitacost is connected to Iherb in some way besides both being around the same prices? Iherb doesn't carry no in-house brand like NSI like Vitacost does.

#37 neil

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Posted 03 November 2007 - 03:12 AM

I've been buying NSI products from vitacost.com for a long time. Recently I got concerned that so much of the supplements used in America are imported from China where quality control standards may be subpar. So I tried to get information from NSI and Vitacost regarding their products. I asked questions such as which of their supplements are imported from China, what do they do to ensure purity, which lab does the tests, and whether the test results are available to see.

I sent several emails from both NSI's and Vitacost's website posing these questions, all of which went unanswered. I also called both companies. Vitacost agent said that they only sell the products and couldn't give me more info; she suggested I contact NSI. I called NSI and their agent told me that she didn't have the info but would have her manager call me back with the information. Her manager never did call back.

After a few weeks I sent one last email to NSI telling them how disappointed I was with their lack of response to my inquiries regarding the purity and quality (not the potency nor the effectiveness) of their imported products. This time someone from Vitacost responded to my email. (Apparently NSI had forwarded my email to Vitacost.)

The Vitacost's agent said she would be glad to help me. So we had half a dozen email exchanges in the course of which I only could verify that indeeded a lot of their supplements were imported from China. She would not tell me anything about their quality control and the steps they have taken to ensure the safety of the imported ingredients, or give me access to the lab results. She would end every email saying "If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact me", but oddly she never answered any questions. I asked her a couple of times if she could put me in touch with anyone at NSI; she didn't respond.

On NSI's website there are the names of quite a few doctors. However I didn't find actual contact info for any of them.

I find their cavalier attitude towards their customers' safety concerns diappointing.

Neil
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#38 bixbyte

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Posted 03 November 2007 - 03:24 PM

In my purchasing history I determine mathematically the lowest price per gram and most often Country Life, Doctors Best or a name brand offered by other vendors are sometimes cheaper than NSI.
Except for Vitamin D right now, I can buy large quantities/doses from Swanson.
But basically I stick with name brands plus my frequent visits to Vitamin World.
I am taking 30 different sup/day for about 2+ years.

Edited by bixbyte, 03 November 2007 - 04:10 PM.


#39 browser

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Posted 03 November 2007 - 07:28 PM

One thing I like about Vitacost is that they update their formulations regularly. From a recent newsletter:
How common is it for a multivitamin manufacturer to change their product based on new research? My assumption (feel free to provide counterexamples) is that they would rather not out of fear of losing customers who have become accustomed to their product.

Stephen

LEF is constantly doing it. I scarfed up a year's supply of LEF tablets from LEF a few months ago when they were changing their formulation. LEF mix had RNA in it, it was taken out, has a high dose niacin version, took out the iron, offers a copper free version. I haven't looked at the formulations which replaced the stuff I bought on clearance (and had been taking for some years), but I'd imagine more herbs and other supplements have been added. It's because LEF keeps changing its formulations that VRP, which was an equal, fell and stayed far behind.

#40 david ellis

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Posted 03 November 2007 - 08:46 PM

From my -5/27/07 post -
" Let's see what happens. I wrote reviews and notified management about 3 problems I had with NSI. My B-100 formula has (according to the label) 100 mgs of biotin. That's 33,340% of the daily requirement. I don't know whether its a typo (maybe mcgs instead of mgs) or the pill really has 100 mgs. But from reading the way Custom Capsule labels are printed/calculated by computer control, the product could really have 100 mgs of biotin.


Recently I reviewed their B100 product again, and no, they had not corrected the error noted in my May post quoted above. Instead, they compounded it. They changed the label to 100.00 mg of biotin(instead of 100 mg originally). I don't have any idea what good adding two decimal points does. So, I reviewed the NSI B100 again and pointed out that if you added up the weight that is supposed to be in a capsule- The capsule would them weigh about 100 mgs more than it does. So finally, it is right, 100 mcgs on the label. Don't rely on their reviews of products. None of my reviews were ever approved. So I just don't use Vitacost anymore. If correcting a little problem takes so long(about 3 months, and 3 tries), how competent would they be with a big problem?

And they should be marked down for bad manners, after all the help I gave them, they never thanked me. I honestly approached this as a chance to help someone. Especially the first review I posted. The 2nd one, it might have hurt their feelings pointing out that the problem wasn't fixed yet. No ad hominem attack. Without me, their label might still have a glaring stupid error.

#41 JesusistheKing

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Posted 16 January 2011 - 05:37 AM

First of all, NSI are GMP since they are on the website of www.nsf.org . Second, it is written on their label : "Manufactured by Nutraceutical Life Sciences, 130 Lexington Parkway, Lexington, NC. So what people says about NSI is only rumors. NSI is also in the comparative guide of Nutritional Supplements and they are rated 5 stars. I have tested them and I had very good results. They work and they have a good price.

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#42 Brainbox

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Posted 16 January 2011 - 12:17 PM

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This topic has been moved from "Bioscience, Health & Nutrition -> Supplements" to "Bioscience, Health & Nutrition -> Supplements -> Retailer/Product Discussion".


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