Friday July 19, 2002

Press Release

SOURCE: Life Services Supplements, Inc.

Probable Carcinogen Acrylamide Absent From Keto Tortilla Chips

NEPTUNE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2002--Keto(TM) brand tortilla chips, manufactured by Life Services Supplements, Inc. (LSS), have an undetectable acrylamide level (less than ten parts per billion), according to tests performed by ABC Research Corp. of Gainesville, Florida.

Acrylamide, classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a probable human carcinogen, has been found by Stockholm University and Sweden's National Food Administration to occur in alarmingly high quantities in foods such as bread, potato chips, french fries, and breakfast cereals. The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency confirmed the Swedish findings with its own study.

Acrylamide forms during the baking or frying of high carbohydrate foods, like potatoes, breads and grains, and often these fried or oven-baked foods contain acrylamide in excess of the EPA standard allowable in drinking water. Keto brand tortilla chips, like most LSS/Keto products, are relatively low in acrylamide-forming carbohydrate, and therefore no detectable levels of acrylamide were found. Ordinary high carbohydrate tortilla chips were found by the Swedish study to contain acrylamide. The tests performed on Keto Chips had a detection limit of 10 parts per billion.

Acrylamide is known to produce neurotoxic effects in man and many experimental animals. It is also linked to gene mutations leading to cancer in rats, including breast and uterine cancer, and tumors in the adrenal glands and internal lining of the scrotum.

Keto Chips(TM) were originally developed by LSS for those on high protein, low carb diets, such as Atkins, Protein Power, Sugar Busters, and Zone, and diabetics looking to reduce their consumption of carbohydrate. They are available in four flavors, and are part of a large family of high protein, low carbohydrate foods sold by LSS under the Keto brand.

High carbohydrate consumption has been linked to a variety of health issues, primarily obesity, adult onset diabetes and heart disease. Hyperinsulinemia and Syndrome X, which result from chronic high levels of dietary carbohydrate, are implicated in cancer of the breast and colon. The studies by Sweden and the UK may point to additional mechanisms leading to increased risk of cancer for those who consume high amounts of carbohydrate.

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