Airborne

//** Introduction **// Airborne was introduced in 1990's. It was designed to fight against colds. Victoria Knight-McDowell decided to research ways to help boost the immune system. Victoria and her husband decided to start marketing their new product. She worked as an elementary school teacher. Her idea in the beginning was to find a way to avoid catching a cold from one of her students. With a group of professionals, Victoria spent five years working on her product.

//** Claims **// Airborne was designed to fight off colds. It is sold as "herbal health formula that boosts your immune system to help your body combat germs".

//** Evidence **// In the New York Times article it states "Knight-McDowell commissioned a small clinical trial, and the results suggest that the product can fight colds, said Rider McDowell, a co-founder of the company. But the study has not been published in a medical journal. McDowell would not disclose where the study was done". She did a study but she was private about it. There has been no studies published proving that airborne truly works. On the website www.sciencebasedmedicine.org it says "Airborne contains too much vitamin A. Two pills contains 10,000 IU, which is the maximum safe limit, but the instructions say to take three pills per day. So taken as directed Airborne contains more than the safe limit of vitamin A.". Not only does Airborne have no evidence proving that it works, it also contains a too much vitamin A. It can potentially be unsafe. FDA have not overlooked airborne to prove their claims have been scientifically correct.

//** Cost **// Airborne revenue was about 150 million in 2006. Airborne usually starts around $5 and gets more expensive depending on what style you are buying and how large the bottle is.

//** Reference **//

O. (n.d.). Archived Insolence: The Archive site for Respectful Insolence. Retrieved September 21, 2016, from http://oracknows.blogspot.com/2006/01/airborne-created-by-schoolteacher-so.html

Airborne Settles Case On False Advertising « Science-Based Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2016, from https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/airborne-admits-false-advertising/

//By: Makenna Johnson//