Micelle Laboratories

Herbalife, to their everlasting credit, appears to be trying to bring more of their manufacturing in house. Or committed to becoming more vertically integrated, securing its supply chain from “seed to feed,” as they put it. To that end, they've acquired a 580,000-square-foot facility in Winston-Salem, NC, expected to be operational by mid 2014. But just who is manufacturing their products now? Who is their contract supplier ?

Checking, at one time it appears they were using called Micelle Laboratories, out in Orange County, California. An Aug 24, 2009 news bulletin indicates...

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" Herbalife Ltd., a global nutrition and direct-selling company, announced today that its agreement to buy certain assets of Micelle Laboratories, an Orange County, Calif. contract manufacturer of food and nutritional supplements, has closed. Herbalife purchased the assets in order to strengthen its global manufacturing capabilities for approximately $10 million in an all cash deal."

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A little background on Micelle Laboratories. From their 2008 Corporate Profile they state:

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" Micelle Laboratories is a closely held corporation with a history of producing custom manufactured nutritional and over-the-counter drug products since 1980. The company operates in a new 150,000 square foot, state of the art manufacturing facility.

"Our extensive research and laboratory facilities, with both FDA and GMP certifications, allow us to develop innovative products of excellent quality for our customers. Our customers range from resale distributor companies to multi- level marketing companies. Micelle Laboratories provides services worldwide."

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More specifically...

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"Micelle Laboratories, Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of nutritional supplements and over-the-counter drugs in the United States and internationally. Its capabilities range from liquids and powders to tablets and capsules. The company offers pet products; nutritional products; oral rinse products for the relief and protection of irritated areas in the mouth; and bathing wipes, as well as provides intimacy enhancer crиmes for women. Its customers range from resale distributor companies to multi- level marketing companies. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in Lake Forest, California. As of August 24, 2009, Micelle Laboratories, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Herbalife Ltd. "

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Pet products? Intimacy enhancer crиmes for women? (crиmes = creams?) All being run off the same line as Formula 1?

See, that's the thing most people don't realize. There's only a handful of these companies around the country that manufacture products for all the MLM companies. Basically all the products come from the same source, despite what the company may tell you. They just change the labels and alter the formula somewhat. Not many MLM companies have the resources to manufacture in house.

As for Micelle Laboratories, what's it like to work there?

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"Micelle is for those who cannot find a job anywhere else"

What do you like about working at Micelle Laboratories?

"The people in manufacturing qnd QC are friendly personal and work well together"

What don't you like about working at Micelle Laboratories?

"Management is abusive with cusing, threatening language, sexual harassment an everry day occurance"

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Managment is beyond help. They are egotistical, they falsify accounting records, launder personal items, lifestyle, attorneys and girlfriends through the company. They lie to the legal system regarding employees to avoid jail or severe punishment. Thye lie to their customers. This company is beyond being salvaged with current management."

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Oh, my!:shocked:

Interestingly, when you pull up the address for Micelle in Google Earth, you see:Attachment 9482

Use to be this...

Attachment 9484

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Micelle Laboratories

As of August 24, 2009, Micelle Laboratories, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Herbalife Ltd. The company offers pet products; nutritional products; oral rinse products for the relief and protection of irritated areas in the mouth; and bathing wipes, as well as provides intimacy enhancer crиmes for women. Its customers range from resale distributor companies to multi- level marketing companies.

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That "pet product" category caught my attention. Seems they sell products under the International Veterinary Sciences label.

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International Veterinary Sciences is a division of Micelle Products, Inc., a subsidiary of Micelle Laboratories, Inc., who manufactures nutritional supplements and animal health products. The parent company, Micelle Laboratories, Inc. is privately held and was established in 1980.

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I'm sure they hose the production line down as they switch between dog food, feminine intimacy enhancer creams, and Herbalife products.

But if you ever get any crunchy bites in your Formula 1 shake, now you'll know what it likely is. :RpS_wink:

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Originally Posted by Doc Bunkum

That "pet product" category caught my attention. Seems they sell products under the International Veterinary Sciences label.



I'm sure they hose the production line down as they switch between dog food, feminine intimacy enhancer creams, and Herbalife products.

But if you ever get any crunchy bites in your Formula 1 shake, now you'll know what it likely is. :RpS_wink:

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okay now that crunchy bites reference is one knarley visual I won't get out of my brain anytime soon!:RpS_smile:

Somehow the thought of something "crunchy" showing up in feminine intimacy products is a turn-off!!:scared_1:

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Originally Posted by laidback

Somehow the thought of something "crunchy" showing up in feminine intimacy products is a turn-off!!

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Now that crunchy bites reference is one knarley visual I won't get out of my brain anytime soon!:RpS_crying:

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Originally Posted by Doc Bunkum

That "pet product" category caught my attention. Seems they sell products under the International Veterinary Sciences label.



I'm sure they hose the production line down as they switch between dog food, feminine intimacy enhancer creams, and Herbalife products.

But if you ever get any crunchy bites in your Formula 1 shake, now you'll know what it likely is. :RpS_wink:

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think they're going to change the name to Gerbilife?

As much as I hate to defend anything associated with Herbalife, companies like this commonly make products for animals, OTC drugs out of patent and nutritional supplements. All of the above are, at the end of the day, various compounds of chemicals infused into some kind of medium for drug delivery. For a cream, be it feminine hygiene, hair growth, anti itch or whatever, you mix up a batch of whatever chemicals specified and then mix it with, say, cortisone cream or what amounts to cold cream, then package and label it. For shakes you put it in tubes, canisters, or sell it in a non-dairy creamer kind of stuff and let it go. Or put it in capsules, or just sell it in a tub. I buy and use a product that used to be made by Michell for Chili Dog, its a cranberry based powder I add to her food to help her with urinary tract infections, and much the same stuff is made for human consumption by several companies, the big difference being to sell it for people you have to keep different records of purity and quality control...its not unusual for a batch of some or another nutritional supplement that for some reason fails these quality checks to be used for pet products. And when I say fail these quality checks, that doesn't make them unsafe by any means, it often boils down to a check that is supposed to be done every X gallons being missed and X gallons then don't confirm.
A similar example I know of personally is generic motor oil. Ever see "Wal-Mart brand" motor oil and wonder where it comes from? SAE publishes standards for oils that they much meet to be labeled "10W 40, or SAE 30 etc.... and refineries make these oils for many different brands. Pennzoil may say "we want 10W 40 oil and to make it "our" oil we want you to add X amount of these chemicals to every 10,000 gallon batch." So they make 10,000 gallons and since you don't just toss in the X amount of a chemical when distilling petroleum, you have to formulate it, sometimes the finished product when tested may come out with a few PPM (parts per million) fewer of X or Y chemical in it than Pennzoil wants, but it does still meet the SAE 10W 40 standard. SO, if its something that can't be fixed with some chemistry, rather than toss the 10,000 gallons of oil out, they will sell it as a non-branded, generic or some other brand like WalMart who only care if it meets the SAE standard. So, sometimes, the only difference between the brnad name that is $4 a quart and the "Empire Oil" (an actual generic brand) that is $1.75 a quart is maybe 15 PPM of some additive or another.

Same thing happens in food grade chemicals, additives and supplements. Something may be almost exactly the same as the Human Prescription drug that sells for $20 a dose but because it was non-conforming, or maybe just because the lab knows it can sell it for animals and not have to keep all the records etc... it sells for less than a dollar as an animal equal of the same drug.

Anyhow, some companies like Herbalife eventually buy out their suppliers, not just because they're trying to vertically integrate their production, but to prevent their suppliers from selling a nearly identical product to other distribution channels.

Just to add a bit to that. There are very few things in prescription drugs that are expensive as ingredients. The bulk of the cost of almost all in patent drugs is research and development and after that, production record keeping. That is why Ambien CR, which is just Ambien with a coating on it to make it dissolve slower and uniformly over 8 hours, is about $4 a pill and Ambien, which on a pill by pill basis costs almost exactly the same to manufacture, is less than 10 cents. The "CR" is a separate process that a company came up with a while back that can be applied to many many pills and capsules. In order to protect their profits and stretch their R&D over a longer cycle, drug companies make a new drug, test and get approval for it and start selling it under patent for, say, $10 a pill. When it goes out of patent, within days a generic will be available usually for less than a dollar and quite often for more like a dime (why your pharmacy can sell the $4 a month supply drugs) and then the original drug will come out in a "new and improved time release formula" with a brand new patent and still sell for the price at or near what the original drug sold for under patent. The pharmaceutical reps then go and hand out samples to Drs who give a few days to patients and prescribe, you got it, the NEW formula.
As companies get more aggressive about cost cutting, more and more insurance plans will not cover a CR version, at least without making the prescribing doctor jump through a few hoops to justify why a patient cannot get by on the original, not patented, version.
I work for Ford and thus, have never had much experience having been denied anything in my health care (we just have the best benefits), but my insurance won't pay for Ambien CR, which I I want to pay myself for is I think $120 odd a month, but the Zulpidem 10mg generic so cheap it is less than my $5 a month co-pay and I pay less than that for 30 of them.

I know what you're saying, Gregg, but I'm sure you realize we're just having a little fun on this thread with Herbalife as the butt of our humor. :RpS_smile:

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Originally Posted by Gregg

I buy and use a product that used to be made by Michell for Chili Dog,

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ChiliDogLife?

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Originally Posted by Gregg

A similar example I know of personally is generic motor oil. Ever see "Wal-Mart brand" motor oil and wonder where it comes from? SAE publishes standards for oils that they much meet to be labeled "10W 40, or SAE 30 etc.... and refineries make these oils for many different brands. Pennzoil may say "we want 10W 40 oil and to make it "our" oil we want you to add X amount of these chemicals to every 10,000 gallon batch." So they make 10,000 gallons and since you don't just toss in the X amount of a chemical when distilling petroleum, you have to formulate it, sometimes the finished product when tested may come out with a few PPM (parts per million) fewer of X or Y chemical in it than Pennzoil wants, but it does still meet the SAE 10W 40 standard. SO, if its something that can't be fixed with some chemistry, rather than toss the 10,000 gallons of oil out, they will sell it as a non-branded, generic or some other brand like WalMart who only care if it meets the SAE standard. So, sometimes, the only difference between the brnad name that is $4 a quart and the "Empire Oil" (an actual generic brand) that is $1.75 a quart is maybe 15 PPM of some additive or another.

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Yeah, their Super Tech stuff. I use it all the time when servicing power equipment.

Yrah, I know