Message #23 From:
Stock News Bot Date: September 20, 2005 09:01:00 AM
HESG News Brisk Shugr Sales at GNC -- Places New Order
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 2005--Health Sciences Group, Inc. (OTCBB: HESG), provider of innovative nutraceutical products and functional food ingredients derived from natural sources, announced today that sales of Shugr at GNC have been brisk with GNC placing new order for more stores. With more than 5,700 doors worldwide, GNC is the nation's largest specialty retailer of nutritional supplements.
"We are excited to see that sales of Shugr have exceeded our expectations at GNC," said Fred E. Tannous, co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Health Sciences Group. "With this new order from GNC, we expect to see Shugr sold in more of their retail stores nationwide. We are working with GNC to develop various in-store marketing and advertising initiatives to promote Shugr, including offering coupons for discounts on purchases of Shugr. We expect these marketing programs will further increase Shugr sales at GNC."
"As a result of the increasing demand for Shugr at GNC, we have received numerous inquiries from other retailers seeking to sell Shugr in their stores," commented Loren Miles, VP Marketing. "We expect to progressively expand distribution of Shugr in the coming months."
Shugr is the first natural, zero-calorie sweetener made from sugars that occur naturally in such good-tasting, healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, corn and dairy products. Erythritol is a naturally-occurring sugar commonly found in melon, grapes, mushrooms and soy. Tagatose comes from dairy products, but does not affect people who are lactose intolerant. Tagatose also provides an added health benefit -- prebiotic fiber that promotes intestinal health, much the way yogurt does. Maltodextrin is derived from corn sugar, which is non-GMO and gluten-free. A trace amount of sucralose is added to give Shugr its "high note." All of these ingredients carry a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) designation for food safety from the US Food & Drug Administration.
About Health Sciences Group, Inc.
Health Sciences Group identifies, develops and commercializes innovative nutritional products derived from natural sources to provide consumers and medical professionals with preventative healthcare alternatives. The company markets its own line of proprietary products based on novel technologies with clinically-supported, GRAS-certified ingredients under its Swiss Research(TM) and Swiss Diet(TM) brand names. For more information, visit www.HSciences.com.
About GNC Corporation
GNC, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, operates 2,644 company-owned stores in the U.S. and Canada and has 1,261 domestic franchised locations, 1,043 Rite Aid "store-within-a-store" locations and 773 international franchised locations. GNC is the largest global specialty retailer of nutritional supplements, which includes vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements (VMHS), sports nutrition products, diet and energy products and specialty supplements. For more information and to order products, including Shugr(TM), visit www.GNC.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 that are based upon current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties, including without limitation, the independent authority of the special committee to act on the matters discussed, the successful negotiation of the potential acquisition and disposal of transactions described above, successful implementation of the company's business strategy and competition, any of which may cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the statements. In addition, other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are discussed in the Company's most recent Form 10-QSB and Form 10-KSB filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
