GNC To Card Minors

PITTSBURGH--General Nutrition Centers (GNC) will begin checking customer ID to verify the shopper is 18 years or older when buying products intended for adult use. Affected GNC products include those containing ephedra, kava, melatonin, androstenedione or synephrine, which all have warning labels regarding underage usage.

"If you look at any GNC product with any of those ingredients in it, there will be a warning that says the product is not intended for anyone under 18," GNC spokeswoman Stephanie Mangini told INSIDER.

This is one of only a few initiates launched by GNC Nov. 6 under its new GNC Nutritional Supplement Bill of Rights. Additionally, the chain will be reviewing its labeling practices in order to ensure consumers receive comprehensive information about GNC supplements. As part of GNC's Smart Label program, the chain will review its current labeling practices by utilizing customer research conducted on the issue and using feedback from nutritional experts.

Under its self-imposed bill of rights, GNC promises the customer has the right:

--to know and understand the ingredients, usage guidelines (e.g., dosage and duration) and product potency of any supplement prior to purchase;

--to know the benefits and side effects associated with GNC supplements; and

--to understand product labeling and language used on any GNC supplement.

In an interview that appeared in the Nov. 7 issue of The Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com), GNC president and chief executive officer Michael Meyers said that the chain wants to make certain products intended for use by adults are not sold to minors. He saw no difference in carding for supplements from carding for liquor or cigarettes. As Meyers said in an interview appearing in the Nov. 7 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (www.post-gazette.com), "How would a customer feel if he went to a liquor store and caught teenagers being sold liquor?"

Some media reports cite recent state laws regarding ephedra and steroid precursors as the impetus behind GNC's latest policies. However, GNC (www.gnc.com) stated these laws did not necessarily have an effect on the chain's decision. "This was something that started a year ago with consumer research," Mangini said. "We are putting 300 percent more information into our stores, because that's what consumers have asked for. . We are the leaders and hold nearly 10 percent of the marketplace, and we knew we had to be responsible. While the federal regulations do not require us to card for certain products even if there is a label on them, we decided to take that to the next level."

Is GNC concerned that the new carding policy will turn business away? "That's not a concern of ours," Mangini said. "We want to be a trusted source. We're not looking at the competition . this is the right thing to do as the industry leader."

Industry organizations found GNC's news encouraging. "We're very supportive of any effort to help consumers make informed choices about dietary supplements," said Tracy Taylor, a spokesperson for the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA). "GNC's Nutritional Supplements Bill of Rights [has] some similarities with NNFA's code of ethics. In terms of GNC's carding program, we have a similar position regarding sports supplements, such as thermogenics and steroid precursors."

The initiatives--which are also comprised of a Better Knowledge, Better Health program that includes in-store displays and accessibility to information through the GNC Web site and in-store kiosks--are expected to be fully implemented by early 2003.