Response to "A ‘Glyconutrient Sham’"
2 Mannatech Incorporated, 600 S. Royal Lane, Suite 200, Coppell, Texas 75019 (President & CEO). Note: Terry Persinger retired from the company on June 16, 2008.
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: e-mail: tpersinger{at}mannatech.com
Received on May 1, 2008; revised on May 29, 2008; accepted on June 4, 2008
On behalf of Mannatech employees, customers, and shareholders globally, we are submitting the following letter for publication in Glycobiology in tandem with the proposed "A ‘Glyconutrient Sham’" article by authors Schnaar and Freeze.
More than 6 months ago, Mannatech received a copy of the original draft of "A ‘Glyconutrient Sham’" article after it was published in the online version of Glycobiology. Once we were fully aware of the article and the many biased allegations made against our company by authors Schnaar and Freeze throughout, Mannatech prepared a 24-page response letter where we cited 58 pertinent scientific references to refute the erroneous data presented by the authors. Our response was not published. Authors Schnaar and Freeze cited only a handful of scientific references in their original article, and as such, we believe that many of the claims made against Mannatech were based upon their opinions versus rigorous scientific investigation. As stated in the Publisher's Note, Oxford Journals removed the original article from circulation.
We believe that the authors Schnaar and Freeze abused their roles as editors of Glycobiology to hastily publish the first version of their article without benefit of peer review. In our opinion, the result was the publication of a misleading, one-sided "editorial" that was more suited for a British tabloid than an Oxford University Press journal. They also took liberties to mass e-mail this "editorial" on September 20, 2007, during its brief lifespan as an electronic publication to dozens of leading researchers in the field of glycobiology. Their clearly stated goal in this e-mail was to blackball Mannatech from any participation in scientific conferences and to preclude Mannatech from sponsoring additional research in the area of glycobiology. An excerpt of the e-mail follows, "I am writing to you on behalf of a group of glycobiologists who are concerned your presentation at the upcoming Jenner Symposium will be misused by a "glyconutrient" company, Mannatech," written by Hudson Freeze.
We, along with other leaders in our industry, are left questioning their motives for attacking Mannatech and trying to prevent the company from continuing our research and development efforts, which have met with commercial success for more than 575,000 global customers who enjoy the benefits of our nutritional products.
Because there are still many unanswered questions in the field of glycobiology, Mannatech continues to expand and strengthen its network of global scientific collaborators at academic institutions and clinical research organizations. Currently, we have preclinical research and human clinical studies underway in North America, Australia, and Europe. The focus of these studies is to support and expand our claims detailing how a nutrient or dietary ingredient can be beneficial to normal human metabolism. Studies such as these, particularly when performed with human subjects under controlled conditions, are strongly preferred by regulatory bodies when determining the credibility of claims relating to nutritional products. One of these preclinical studies detailing Mannatech's research in the area of symbiotics was recently published in late 2007 in the International Journal of Probiotics and Prebiotics. Various other studies sponsored by Mannatech have been published and presented at scientific conferences during its 14-year history. Despite this current resistance by a couple of scientists, Mannatech intends to continue and expand our collaborative research efforts globally.
Along with other preeminent scientists in the field of glycobiology, we believe that there are legitimate scientific frontiers to explore where the fields of glycobiology and nutrition converge. We agree with the glycobiology experts polled in a recent article in Science titled "Who Owns Glycobiology?" where it was stated: "Even Mannatech's critics agree that research on the potential health benefits of consuming specific sugars has merit. If the field of nutritional glycobiology is to expand, many leaders agree, health claims must be based on solid science" (Kaiser 2007
).
If authors Schnaar and Freeze have their way, Mannatech will not have the opportunity to work with third parties to validate and expand research and development. We support research to explore the frontiers of nutritional science and find that "bright line" delineating legitimate glycobiology research from mere marketing hype. It is for this reason that we maintain a staff of highly competent scientific professionals, continue to expand our network of outside collaborators and conduct ongoing studies and product testing. We stand committed to research and development in the field of wellness solutions.
As the CEO of Mannatech, I thank you for providing me the opportunity to present our point of view to your readers. In doing so, Oxford Journals is upholding the enduring values of Oxford University Press and the University of Oxford, which are sustained by a responsible and professional approach to publishing.
Reference
Kaiser J. Who owns glycobiology? Science (2007) 318:734–737.
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