Old-fashioned. (notes).(Brief Article)

One of the best reasons for shopping in your local natural products store was illustrated a few months ago when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters to seven Web site operators. These "Internet seven" were promoting dietary supplements they claimed would "mitigate, treat, cure or prevent a specific disease or class of diseases." Such claims are generally permitted for pharmaceutical drugs but not dietary supplements.

In essence, the Web site operators were exploiting legitimate dietary supplements by implying unsupported medical benefits for their particular products. And, with the seemingly infinite distance of cyberspace between them and their potential customers, they thought they could get away with it. It's another classic example of how a few bad apples can taint an entire industry.

Web sites like these are set up simply as marketing engines, and should be trusted at your own risk. On the other hand, there's a certain feeling of security in the good old-fashioned ...