Kirkman Labs Antimony Recall

According to their website, Kirkman Labs is "the oldest and one of the leading manufacturers of nutritional supplements for individuals with food allergies, special dietary requirements and environmental sensitivities". They are one of, if not the most used supplement company by Defeat Autism Now (DAN!) doctors nationwide.

On December 30, 2009, Kirkman Labs released a statement to its distributors indicating they found higher than acceptable levels of antimony in several of their products. Antimony is a chemical element included in things such as flame-proofing, rubber cements, paints and alloy metals. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) lists the following about antimony ingestion: "Ingesting large doses of antimony can cause vomiting. We don't know what other effects may be caused by ingesting it. Long-term animal studies have reported liver damage and blood changes when animals ingested antimony. Antimony can irritate the skin if it is left on it."

This is a copy of the letter received by Autism Canada according to their Facebook page:

"Dec 30, 2009

Dear Kirkman Distributor,

It has come to Kirkman's attention that a raw material supplier has been supplying Kirkman with substandard quality material that is higher in antimony content than what would be considered acceptable to the special needs community. Raw material supplier are actually not required to test for antimony levels routinely, so this problem did not come to our attention until a physician using Kirkman products brought the issue to our attention. We immediately had our laboratory research the issue which they quickly isolated and linked it to a specific raw material.

We have stopped using this material and have located and purchased a quality replacement which we will begin using immediately.

We are asking that if you have any of the following products which utilized this material in your inventory, that you destroy the products and request credit or replacement with new lots when they become available. Call Kirkman customer service to make these requests. The products involved include all lots of the following products:

1. Zinc Liquid Product #387/8 and 387/16
2. Super Nu-Thera w/o A and DProduct #447/454
3. DMAE 50 mg. Chewable Product # 489/90
4. Super Nu-Thera Powder-OrangeProduct # 410/454
5. B Complex Powder Pro SupportProduct # 399/7
6. TMG w/ Folinic and B-12 PowderProduct #413/4 and 389/250
7. Chewable Vitamin C TabletsProduct #389/100 and 389/250

Kirkman regrets the inconvenience associated with this issue, but Kirkman will not compromise our quality standards that we have stood for throughout our existence.

Sincerely,

Larry Newman
COO Technical and Regulatory Affairs"

Any parent whose child is taking these supplements should contact Kirkman Labs directly at 1-800-245-8282 (International callers call 503-694-1600) for instructions on how to get a replacement. Also, call the child's doctor to find out if any further action is needed regarding the consumption of the products containing antimony.