Oregon-based Cell Tech, which harvests and markets SBGA products through distributors in the United States and Canada, said its marketing network has grown to 350,000 from 7,000 in 1985. Sales of spirolina and chlorella, two other strains of algae, have also increased during that time, said several health food stores that sell the products nationwide. The human body is an amazing thing if you feed it the right stuff. Super Blue Green Algae products contain protein, vitamin B-12, beta carotene and essential minerals no longer present in the soil, according to Cell Tech. The company said a volcano that erupted thousands of years ago continues to provide the Upper Klamath Lake region, where Cell Tech is based, with a deep bed of these very minerals.
Critics argue such claims lack scientific proof.
People can take anything and feel better. The supplements cost about six times more than a roast beef dinner containing equal amounts of protein and many times more than carrots and sweet potatoes, foods rich in beta carotene, Purdue's Tyler said. But Kollman says years of pesticide and chemical use have sapped vegetables of virtually all nutrients. A plant is only as good as the soil it's grown in, and our soil has been farmed so hard and so fast there is nothing left. But concerns go beyond costs.