Dr. Kuno Sommer is made a defendant on the charge stated below. The defendant joined and participated in the charged conspiracy from at least as early as January 1991 until at least December 1997. Vitamins are organic compounds required in the diet of humans and animals for normal growth and maintenance of life. Vitamins are essential sources of certain coenzymes necessary for metabolism, the biochemical processes that support life. All known vitamins have been synthesized chemically, and various such synthesized vitamins are manufactured and sold by the defendant and its corporate co-conspirators.
Vitamins are necessary for the normal and healthy growth and development of both humans and animals.
A and E, vitamin B2, vitamin B5, vitamin C, and beta carotene are sold to customers in the human food, pharmaceutical and animal feed industries. Vitamin premixes are a blend of several vitamins and other products in either dry or spray-on applications. Formulated and sold as additives, these vitamin premix applications are used to enrich human food and animal feed products. During the period covered by this Information, Dr. Kuno Sommer was first the North American Regional Manager for vitamins and subsequently, the Director of Worldwide Marketing of Roche, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Switzerland, with its principal place of business in Basel, Switzerland. Roche is engaged in the manufacture and sale of vitamins and vitamin premixes to the United States and elsewhere.