I'm not sure whether the natural product companies or the pharmaceutical companies are the worse liars.
You know, that is a really interesting question. They lie differently. Both are driven by the profit motive. The pharmaceutical industry is a lot more regulated, and the FDA won't let them "lie", at least by the FDA's definition. Often they will push drugs of dubious value, if not outright danger, and there is a mammoth medical industry that are de facto collaborators. The supplement industry is almost entirely unregulated, and some elements of it say things that are beyond wrong. The MLM sector is the worst, because they have thousands of individual actors who don't have much at stake and stand to profit more if they lie more effectively. It's just a swamp of hype and misinformation, though there are bright spots; responsible manufacturers and vendors do exist, and there's a growing health blogger movement that has some really good people in it who comment on and support the use of supplements. They aren't part of the industry, but they help to clean it up.
This was a very balanced analysis, and you are spot on with this statement: "
The MLM sector is the worst, because they have thousands of individual actors who don't have much at stake and stand to profit more if they lie more effectively".
It's terrible associates of MLM companies that give it a bad name and ruin it for the rest of us. However, the FEC has regulated, as well as the FDA, these businesses sufficiently. Each company, if they are wellness related, are required to make their associates fill "compliance forms" in order to join the company. My company has very strict terms and conditions regarding claims. I can't even state a specific amount of weight loss in a specific amount of time. I had to put my health, SuperiorCleansing, to compliance and had to go through a whole process of getting it approved.
Everytime I do a presentation I have to say "these products have not been diagnosed by the FDA to treat, prevent or cure disease"
"The supplement industry is almost entirely unregulated"
This year FDA sent Federal Marshals to the largest producer of Elder Berry Juice to seize all their product:
http://www.naturalne...e_FDA_raid.htmlI understand the stigma the MLM industry has, mainly because of past methods used by associates and a lack of regulations, but things are MUCH smoother now.
By the way, the FDA sent them a letter warning to change their label, so they did, and without further warning the Federal Marshals showed up. I'd say that is a little over-regulated.
I appreciate your thoughts that all MLMers are not created equal. We have our own set of regulations with Product B as well, such as not being able to say, yet, that it induces Telomerase among other things compliance rules you can find at stayoung.info