Vitamin D makers hit pay dirt - Tavia Grant

Vitamin D makers are enjoying a burst of sales after recent findings suggest the supplement helps cut the risk of cancer.

Jamieson Laboratories Inc., for example, Canada's oldest and largest vitamin maker, said sales spiked in the two days last week after the Canadian Cancer Society recommended all adults start taking the vitamin. The recommendation came as a U.S. study indicated the supplement cuts the risk of cancer by 60 per cent.

“One of our major retailers who partners with us witnessed a doubling of sales on the Friday and Saturday,” said John Challinor, spokesman for the Toronto-based manufacturer, adding that he can't give precise sales figures for another month.

His company's not alone. The Rexall family of pharmacies, which includes 1,500 stores across Canada, said sales surged after last week's news.
“The spike was eight times higher than normal,” earlier this week, said spokesperson Michelle Lee. It's since stabilized, though at a higher level than usual.

Her firm plans to promote the product in its stores and is building awareness among pharmacists about the sunshine vitamin.

This wasn't the first study linking the vitamin to reduced cancer risk. Other studies have yielded similar conclusions over the past year, causing Jamieson's vitamin D sales to rise 19 per cent in May from year-earlier levels.

Vitamin A and D sales amount to about $17-million annually in Canada and Jamieson accounts for about 40 per cent of the country's market share.

Last week's rush to buy the vitamin did cause some pharmacies to run out, but companies have said they foresee no looming shortages. Sales could climb even higher once ebbing sunshine in fall and winter set in.

Shoppers Drug Mart has seen “an increase in sales in vitamin D and our pharmacists have received more questions” about the supplement, said spokesperson Pat Chapman.

Most of vitamin D on drugstore shelves is made the lanolin extracted from sheep's wool.

The supplement is the least expensive vitamin on the market, costing about $5 for a 1,000 IU bottle of 100 tablets, “probably the most affordable health insurance for Canadians,” Jamieson's Mr. Challinor said.