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HerbalEGram: Volume 6, Number 3, March 2009
COLD-FX® Named Official Cold and Flu Remedy
of the 2010 and 2012 Olympics
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The Canadian immune-enhancing herbal supplement COLD-FX® has been awarded the role of official supplier in the cold and flu category for the 2010 Winter Games to be held in Vancouver, Canada and the 2012 Summer Games to be held in London, England.1
The patented, clinically tested COLD-FX is made from the saccharide fraction of the root of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius).2 In 2007 it was approved by the Canadian Natural Health Products Directorate for prevention and treatment of upper respiratory tract infections related to colds and flu.
“After a screening process to test the validity of the product, COLD-FX was found to have excellent quality standards and since it’s created by CV Technologies, a leading Canadian company, we decided that they would make a great partner,” said Dave Doroghy, Director of Sponsorship Sales at the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games or VANOC (e-mail, February 20, 2009). This is a high level of sponsorship that involves a cash contribution from CV Technologies to VANOC for the marketing rights as well as the opportunity to have the product available for sale at the Olympics where competitors with competing cold and flu products are prevented from selling.
This isn’t the first time a cold a flu remedy has been tied to the Olympics: Johnson & Johnson was the official partner for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, providing a wide range of products including over-the-counter, prescription, and sports medicine products.3 They also market the Tylenol® brand of acetaminophen which could be used to combat some of the symptoms associated with cold and flu. However, according to Doroghy, the COLD-FX relationship may be the first herbal remedy to sponsor the Olympics, though it is difficult to know for sure: “Unfortunately we don’t have complete access to every company ever to sponsor the Olympics for the last 50 or 100 years. So it is best to use the caveat ‘possibly,’” said Doroghy. “But I am unaware of others.”
What does this mean for the herbal medicine movement? According to CV Technologies, to be honored with this position is “huge” and will help enhance the integrity and credibility of the herbal medicine movement as well as help validate it further.
“We certainly hope to bring awareness of the value of other herbal medicines to the public’s attention as well as serve as an industry role model,” said Jacqueline Shan, PhD, DSc, president and chief scientific officer of CV Technologies Inc. She added, “This product (COLD-FX) was subjected to rigorous tests for safety and efficacy and we hope that this helps raise the bar regarding quality standards for all products in the category.”
This position could boost sales of COLD-FX which will be available in the general stores within the Olympic and Paralympic Villages in Vancouver and Whistler. However, the exact details of how COLD-FX will be made available to the athletes are still under negotiation.
The American Botanical Council (ABC) recently published a monograph of the published scientific and clinical studies on the health benefits of COLD-FX,2 which remains Canada’s best-selling cold and flu remedy.4
—Kelly Saxton Lindner
References
1. COLD-FX chosen as official cold/flu remedy of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games [press release]. Edmonton, Alberta: CV Technologies. January 20, 2009.
2. Barrett B, Brown D. Therapeutic monograph and clinical overview for CVT-E002 (COLD-FX®). Austin, TX: American Botanical Council; 2007. Available at: http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/DocServer/5594COLD-fX.pdf?docID=481.
3. Johnson & Johnson Becomes Official Partner of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, USOC and National Olympic Teams [press release]. New Brunswick, NJ: Johnson & Johnson. July 26, 2005.
4. CV Technologies Announces Fiscal 2009 First Quarter Results [press release]. Edmonton, Alberta: CV Technologies. February 12, 2009.
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