KYOLIC, LTD. ENTERS PRIVATE-LABEL DIETARY SUPPLEMENT ARENA

KYOLIC, LTD. ENTERS PRIVATE-LABEL DIETARY SUPPLEMENT ARENA with the introduction of a line of 10 supplement products at the Private Label Manufacturers Association's annual trade show Nov. 14-17 in Chicago. Kyolic Ltd., a Mission Viejo-based division of Wakunaga of America, said it is also making custom herbal combinations available to potential private-label customers, such as high-potency antioxidant products and various vitamin/herbal combinations. Kyolic, which has been making garlic extract supplements for Sundown for over a year, decided it wanted to expand its private- label capacities to other companies. In addition to announcing the products at the PLMA trade show, Kyolic said it is "selectively" pursuing potential private-label customers via letters and telephone calls. The private-label line includes an "odorless" aged garlic extract in capsules, caplets and tablets; "heat stable" acidophilus in capsules; and chromium piccolinate in capsules, caplets and tablets. Another product offering is "green drink mix powder," which is comprised of wheat grass and barley grass juices, kelp and chlorella. Kyolic currently markets equivalent products under its Kyolic label. The line also encompasses an "all-natural" herbal laxative in capsules, tablets and caplets that contain casathranol and aloe. Kyolic does not offer an herbal laxative under its own brand name. The firm's brand name Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract (600 mg) and Kyo-Chrome Aged Garlic Extract (500 mg) with chromium 200 mcg and niacin 20 mg -- both introduced in the past year -- have been the subject of an ongoing promotional campaign touting the products' cholesterol-lowering ability as part of a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet ("The Tan Sheet" May 3, p. 6). Herbal products in the private-label line that come in either capsules, tablets or caplets include ginseng, golden seal, echinacea, ginko biloba leaf extract, and thermal diet enhancers. Kyolic does not sell thermogenic diet enhancers under the Kyolic name, and has discontinued its own golden seal product due to reported use of the item to block results from recreational drug use tests. Golden seal has traditionally been used as an herbal antibiotic, Kyolic said. Among other brand name products sold by Kyolic is the Be Sure anti-flatulence food enzyme product, which was launched during the summer ("The Tan Sheet" July 5, p. 20).