Setting: NOVA-LU Mega Store, grand opening, sector 43.uv.2d2, 1 December 2011.
 
Gil Bender, Senior Field Agent, FADSA (speaking with a small cadre of consumers as they walk through consumer health product sections): “Thanks for joining me today. Your participation on the consumer perspective steering committee was invaluable to the development and optimization of the qNMaR Scan, or ‘Queen Mar.’ We heard your urgings, derived from wanting to know what really is inside the dietary supplements and ‘functional’ foods and beverages you buy. The significance of your comments birthed another consumer tool, developed specifically for probiotic organism-containing products—the FiSH Stick, which uses a fluorescence-linked tagging and identification system to tell us exactly what microorganisms are in a product. We believe these tools will transform the product selection experience. Mrs. Soccol? My colleagues and I wanted you to be the first consumer to try each of our new tools in the live retail environment.”
 
Mrs. Soccol (blushing): “Thank you, Mr. Bender—so much…but how do I use these?”
 
Agent Bender: “Why don’t you pick out a ‘brain support’ supplement, and a probiotic product, each that you regularly buy? Before you use Queen Mar for the supplement be sure to remove all of the metal objects you are wearing—like your watch and bracelets, because the Queen creates a strong magnetic field. Then place the supplement inside the chamber, close it, press this green button and wait for the beep and vibration. The Queen has a database of more than 1000 different dietary ingredients, all authenticated and characterized and linked to chemical ‘handprints.’ The digital display will then tell you what is in the product, and how much.”
 
Mrs. Soccol: “I usually buy Cog Ignition… (scanning the brain health section shelves). Ahhh, there it is. (She pauses and removes all her metallic objects. She then performs the scan). How long until… (loud beep, device vibrates). OK!”
 
Agent Bender: “Mrs. Soccol—would you please read the digital display to us?”
 
Mrs. Soccol: “Ok. Pyridoxine hydrochloride…27.9529 milligrams. (-)-Huperzine A…109.9 micrograms and (+)-Huperzine A…100.1 micrograms, and ‘race’ …racemate is in parentheses (sounding puzzled). R-alpha-lipoic acid…111.2354 milligrams and S-alpha-lipoic acid…120.9818 milligrams…and there is that ‘racemate’ word again. That’s it.”
 
Agent Bender: “Did any of the Queen’s results stand out to you. The results are based upon a single dosage form—in this case, capsules. The pyridoxine—vitamin B6—was a little higher than the label claim of 25 milligrams. The huperzine A and the lipoic acid results require some explanation. Huperzine A occurs in plants only in the ‘minus’ 3D ‘shape.’ If one finds a similar amount of the ‘plus’ 3D shape it is unequivocally synthetic, and not from the H. serrata moss that the label states. Lipoic acid is manufactured, not extracted from any natural source. Lipoic acid comes in a ‘right shoe’ form and a ‘left shoe’ form. One form is far more active in the body than the other—the ‘R’ form. Although the label states ‘R-lipoic acid, 250 milligrams,’ the Queen revealed otherwise. The marketer of this product will be receiving a visit from one of my colleagues. Now, let’s go to the refrigerator and find your favorite probiotic product.”
 
Stay tuned for Part II, which will appear in the next issue of Nutraceuticals World.