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'''Usana''' ({{nasdaq|USNA}}), or '''USANA Health Sciences, Inc.''', is a ] (MLM) company that produces a variety of health-care products, including vitamins, skin-care products, and nutritional supplements. The company has received recognition for its rapid growth and the quality of its products, which are used by many Usana-sponsored Olympic and professional athletes. However, Usana currently faces legal allegations made by a convicted felon, Barry Minkow, and three lawsuits. He accuses several of its executives to have made false statements regarding their resumes. '''Usana''' ({{nasdaq|USNA}}), or '''USANA Health Sciences, Inc.''', is a direct selling company that produces a variety of health-care products, including vitamins, skin-care products, and nutritional supplements. The company has received recognition for its rapid growth and the quality of its products, which are used by many Usana-sponsored Olympic and professional athletes. However, Usana currently faces legal allegations made by a convicted felon, Barry Minkow, and three lawsuits. He accuses several of its executives to have made false statements regarding their resumes.


== Background == == Background ==

Revision as of 17:06, 5 October 2007

Usana (Nasdaq: USNA), or USANA Health Sciences, Inc., is a direct selling company that produces a variety of health-care products, including vitamins, skin-care products, and nutritional supplements. The company has received recognition for its rapid growth and the quality of its products, which are used by many Usana-sponsored Olympic and professional athletes. However, Usana currently faces legal allegations made by a convicted felon, Barry Minkow, and three lawsuits. He accuses several of its executives to have made false statements regarding their resumes.

Background

The company employs approximately 1,000 people worldwide, and approximate sales are $427 million annually. The company is based in West Valley City, Utah. The company has been rated by Forbes as one of the top 200 small companies for several years in a row. A more recent article published by a Forbes writer took a more critical stance on the company by quoting industry and government experts who questioned both the business practices and the products of USANA . Gil Fuller, USANA's CEO, alerted Forbes prior to the publication of the article that the writer's source was a convicted felon, B.M. Forbes has since published USANA's position as stated in its defamation lawsuit against B.M.

USANA manufactures their nutritional supplement to a level which conforms to Good Manufacturing Practices for Dietary Supplements as setforth by NSF International. This Certification Guarantees that their NSF reviewed products contain the identity and quantity of dietary ingredients declared on the product label and do not contain unacceptable quantities of unwanted contaminants. The USANA Essentials and HealthPak received 5-star ratings in the 4th edition of the Nutrisearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements in the United States and Canada.

The company is based on the concept of network marketing and follows a binary plan for compensation. Due to this products from the company are not available through retail channels, but instead may only be obtained by a direct order to the company through one of its independent associates.

USANA's Q2 filing for the 2007 fiscal year marked the 20th consecutive quarter of record sales for the company . This filing has come under the scrutiny of the NASDAQ for having been made without the review of an independent auditor. Without a proper review, the NASDAQ has warned USANA that they may be de-listed . USANA has requested a hearing with the NASDAQ allowing them to remain listed until a final decision is rendered. On Sept 5th, 2007 USANA announced they reached an agreement with Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, an accouting and consulting firm, which will be taking over as the companies independent auditor. Pricewaterhouse Coopers is expected to immediately begin reviewing the company's Q2 filing for the 2007 fiscal year. USANA's previous independent auditor, Grant Thornton International, quit in July after working 12 years for the company.

All associates for USANA operate independently. Current USANA markets exist in: U.S.A., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Caribbean, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Mexico, Malaysia, (opened start of 2007).

An outdoor venue, USANA Amphitheatre, which is also located in West Valley City, is named after the company.

Products

USANA products encompass three brands: USANA Nutritionals, USANA Macro-Optimizer foods, and Sensé skin- and body-care products.

Nutritionals

The USANA Nutritionals brand is composed of the company’s Essentials and Optimizers nutritional supplements.

Macro-Optimizers

The USANA Macro-Optimizers brand is composed of a variety of drink mixes and nutritional bars. USANA also has designed a weight-loss and weight-maintenance program called RESET, which utilizes the Macro-Optimizers and Essentials.

Sensé

The USANA Sensé brand includes the Basics and the Enhancers, which are made up of facial-care products, as well as Sensé Splash, which consists of hair- and body-care products.

In 2007, USANA announced it was waiting on a U.S. patent for their preserving technology they utilize in their Sensé formulas. The technology allows the company to manufacture Sensé products without adding the paraben preservatives which have been linked to tumors and other health problems.

Athlete sponsorships

USANA sponsors many athletic teams and individual athletes, providing them with free nutritional supplements as well as monetary donations in certain cases. USANA sponsorships include:

USANA’s partnership with the WTA in 2006 made headlines, as it was the first time the women’s professional tennis organization had provided its players with vitamins and health supplements that were backed by an “athlete guarantee” of purity from substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Legal Allegations

In March 2007, Barry Minkow, a convicted felon, delivered a 500-page report to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accusing Usana of operating a pyramid scheme. The report alleged:

- 86% of profits are derived from sales to associates

- Only 37% of sales associates had ever earned a commission

- Of the 37% who earned a commission, 87% did not earn enough to cover the original $116 cost of becoming an associate.

Barry Minkow, a convicted felon turned investigator of corporate fraud, openly admitted to short selling Usana's stock, in order to make a profit from a decline in the stock price prior to delivering the report. On page 8 of the report, Barry Minkow admitted to receiving payment for writing the reportwhich was submitted under the name of his company, the Fraud Discovery Institute (FDI). Usana denied these claims and filed a lawsuit against Barry Minkow citing stock manipulation.

One day after the release of the Barry Minkow report, shares of the company's stock declined by 15%.. Accusations leveled against Usana by Barry Minkow and the FDI, were listed as contributory factors in the decline of the stock price and have subsequently led to several lawsuits being filed against the company.

On April 4, 2007 Guerin Senter and two other USANA shareholders filed a class-action lawsuit against USANA Health Sciences, Myron W. Wentz, David A. Wentz and Gilbert A. Fuller. The suit alleges that USANA presented materially false and misleading statements about the company’s financial situation and business practices. Included in the allegations were that USANA’s business model was unsustainable and amounted to a pyramid scheme. The lawsuit references several of the allegations made in the Minkow report.

USANA has also been named the defendant in a proposed class-action lawsuit brought against them by some of the company’s distributors. On June 21st the Associate Press reported that the lawsuit was being filed in the state court of California, which has tough multilevel marketing laws. This lawsuit seeks to ban USANA from doing further business in the state, which is one of USANA’s largest markets. The lawsuit alleges that USANA failed to disclose “material adverse facts” to those recruited to sell the companies products. The lawsuit seeks damages for “downline” distributors who purchased products which they claim they were unable to sell due to the inflated prices.

In early August, 2007, Forbes reported that through sources the FBI had launched a criminal investigation into Usana . Usana has denied these allegations, stating that they have not been contacted by the FBI and are not aware of such and investigation .

Résumé controversy

In 2007, Usana faced repeated controversy as a number of their executives were discovered to have made false statements regarding their certification.

A member of the board of directors resigned from his post after it was discovered that he did not have a Master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Ladd McNamara, a Usana sales associate, allegedly quit the company's Medical Advisory board after it was discovered his license to practice medicine had been revoked by the State Medical Board of Ohio in May of 2007 . McNamara was required to tell the Ohio medical board that he had surrendered his license in Georgia when he renewed his license in Ohio in 2006. Instead, Ohio learned that information elsewhere.

The Vice President of Research and Development, Timothy Wood, was forced to change his resume to list his doctorate from Yale University as being in forestry, as opposed to the doctorate in biology he claimed.

Most recently Usana’s Executive Vice President and chief financial officer, Gilbert Fuller, reported biographical information that showed him as a CPA despite his license having lapsed in 1986. Mr. Fuller received his CPA license in 1970 and remained active until 1986 While it is not required of a CFO to be a CPA, use of the CPA title while inactive is considered unlawful by the by-laws of the Utah Association of Public Accountants.

References

  1. Lyle MacWilliam (2007). Nutrisearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements, 4th edition. Northern Dimensions Publishing. ISBN 097325386X.
  2. Marilyn Much (2005-03-21). "New Recipe Leads to New Revenue Growth". Investor's Business Daily. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. Liz Robbins (2006-08-23). "WTA Tour Signs On With Vitamin Supplier". New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. "USANA, women's tennis tour ink deal on 'clean' supplements". Salt Lake Tribune. 2006-08-23. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Dave Anderson. "As stocks plunge, Usana sues Minkow over report". Deseret Morning News. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. Keith J. Winstein (2007-03-15). publisher=%5b%5bWall Street Journal%5d%5d "USANA Sales Plan Draws Fire from Felon Turned Gumshoe". {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing pipe in: |url= (help)
  7. Form 8-K for USANA HEALTH SCIENCES INC hosted by Yahoo! business.
  8. Dave Anderton (2007-03-17). "As Stocks Plunge, USANA Sues Minkow Over Report". Deseret Morning News. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. Linda Fantin (2007-03-28). "Supplements suit says USANA duped investors". Salt Lake Tribune. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) See also plaintiff press releases from Milberg Weiss, Brower Piven, and Brodsky & Smith, LLC, March 29, 2007.
  10. Paul Foy (2007-06-21). "Vitamin Marketer Sued by Distributors". AP (hosted by Yahoo! business).
  11. Paul Foy (2007-06-12). "Another Usana official forced to revise resume". Daily Herald. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. Helen Malmgren (2007-08-16). "Troubled USANA faces new stock woes". The National Business Review. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Roddy Boyd (2007-06-12). "CFO's no CPA - USANA under fire on executive bios". New York Post. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links