Chemins

The Chemins Company is a dietary supplement manufacturer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company, founded in 1974 by James Cameron, became embroiled in a series of criminal investigations in 1994 after a woman died and more than 100 other people became ill after taking one of the company’s products marketed under the brand name Nature's Nutrition Formula One. The adverse events were later linked to the product having been tainted with ephedrine. A three-year federal investigation, which revealed that the company had doctored records, misled FDA investigators, and purposely hindered inspections, led to Cameron being sentenced to 21 months in prison and him and the company being fined $4.7 million . The company also paid out $750,000 to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the company's protein powder supplements contained approximately half the protein content and twice the carbohydrate content listed on the label.

Chemins was the manufacturer of dietary supplements for the multi-level marketing companies Metabolife (i.e., Metabolife 356, an ephedra-based supplement that was withdrawn following numerous adverse event reports) and LifeVantage (i.e., Protandim, an herbal-based supplement).

Chemins' assets were acquired by Nexgen Pharma in 2007.

Chemins initially came under regulatory scrutiny following a series of serious adverse event reports by consumers of Chemins' Nature's Nutrition Formula One. These reports led to an investigation of Chemins by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Consumer Litigation, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver, Colorado.

The investigation of Chemins was expanded subsequent to an incident on New Year’s Eve 1994, when police officers intercepted a 1,200-pound shipment of ephedrine (a methamphetamine precursor) aboard a truck that had crashed on an icy road near Colorado Springs while en route to an underground methamphetamine manufacturing lab. Container labels indicated to police that the chemicals originated from Chemins; however, when informed about the incident, Chemins president James Cameron denied that the company ever possessed or used ephedrine in its products.

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