Health information provided by retail health food outlets

Alternative health practices have become increasingly popular in recent yea rs. Many patients visit specific complementary practitioners, while others attempt to educate themselves, trusting advice from employees at local heal th food stores or the Internet. Thirty-two retail health food stores were s urveyed on the nature of the information provided by their staff. A researc h assistant visited the stores and presented as the mother of a child in wh om Crohn's disease had been diagnosed. Seventy two per cent (23 of 32) of s tore employees offered advice, such as to take nutritional and herbal suppl ements. Of the 23 stores where recommendations were made, 15 (65%) based th eir recommendation on a source of information. Fourteen of the 15 stores us ing information sources used the same reference book. This had a significan t impact on the recommendations; the use of nutritional supplements was fav oured. In conclusion, retail health food stores are not as inconsistent as hypothe sized, although there are many variances in the types of supplements recomm ended for the same chronic disease.