Latest news with #GNC
NBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- NBC News
Lawmaker pushes for GNC probe over Chinese ownership and military base access
A U.S. lawmaker is pushing for a federal investigation into GNC, the supplement retailer owned by a Chinese company, over concerns it poses a national security risk on military bases. The move comes as tensions between the U.S. and China grow, with lawmakers warning that personal data and imported ingredients could be 18, 2025
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Noem under pressure to probe China's ties to major supplement store
Donald Trump 's administration is facing calls to investigate China's ties to a supplement store present on dozens of U.S. military bases. Republican Rep. Pat Harrigan is demanding an investigation into GNC's claims that the vast majority of its products are made in the U.S.A. The North Carolina congressman alleges that nine out of 10 GNC ingredients are actually sourced from China, which is one of the top adversaries of the U.S. And he says this poses a major problem since Chinese-owned GNC is a major health supplement supplier on U.S. military bases. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary are facing pressure to get to the bottom of the discrepancies Harrigan is claiming. '[O]ur analysis reveals that nearly 90 percent of GNC's private-label ingredients are sourced from China, despite GNC's public claims that 96 percent of its products are U.S.-made,' Harrigan's letter to Noem and Makary reads, according to a copy obtained by the Daily Mail. 'GNC's record of compliance is deeply flawed,' the letter states. 'In 2016, it paid a $2.25 million fine to the DOJ over the sale of dietary supplements containing unapproved ingredients.' Harrigan's request for another investigation is part of his continued efforts to get all General Nutrition Centers (GNC) stores kicked off U.S. military bases. There are approximately 85 GNC retail stores on U.S. military bases. While its Chinese ownership is not a secret, Harrigan is concerned that the company engaged in 'food fraud' by misrepresenting where its consumable products originated, he notes in his letter to Noem and Makary. A spokesperson for GNC told the Daily Mail that, like many other companies, the supplement store sources raw ingredients from around the world. He explained that once it arrives in the U.S., the ingredients go through a rigorous analysis and testing process before they are used to domestically produce consumables sold at GNC stores. 'GNC stands by the fact that over 96 percent of our branded supplements are made right here in the United States,' GNC Public Relations Director Nick Sero said. He told the Daily Mail: 'We've proudly invested more than $250 million into our domestic supply chain with major manufacturing partners across more than 10 states, including Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, and California.' Sero also said that GNC leaders met with Harrigan in his office in May and explained the global sourcing of their ingredients but stressed the company's domestic quality testing. 'Every GNC-branded supplement is held to a rigorous 150-point quality and safety checklist, which includes testing of sourced ingredients for purity and potency, to ensure everything we offer meets our high standards,' Sero said. 'We welcome any conversation, whether with Congress, the FDA, or the public, about our products and our ongoing commitment to the U.S. military, our customers, and American manufacturing.' Besides the ingredients, Harrigan is also concerned about the potential threat the Chinese-owned company could pose to national security – especially when it comes to operations in military installations. The growing threat from China continues to be something that Congress and the Trump administration is monitoring. The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) says China has quietly seized control or influence over 37 major seaports across Latin America and the Caribbean and is using the cover network to ship and supply weapons. It gives Beijing the power to spy on U.S. military activity, choke off vital shipping lanes, and even launch a surprise military strike on American soil. Meanwhile, a South Carolina port is being used by China to indiscreetly ship in products used in health supplements sold at GNC stores, according to an analysis referenced by Harrigan. The congressman and 12 of his House colleagues in April signed a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding the Justice Department investigate whether GNC violated federal law by falsely stating in 2022 and 2023 that it had no parent company. In 2020, GNC was bought out of its bankruptcy and is now wholly owned by Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, a Chinese state-owned company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It remains headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, despite its relatively new foreign ownership. In his new letter, Harrigan includes an enclosure of a risk analysis on GNC Holdings LLC from Exiger, a third-party risk assessment and supply chain risk management company. Exiger determined in the June report that HNC poses a medium-high overall risk to the U.S. It also found that the Chinese-state ownership of GNC poses an intelligence risk and exposes the personal data of U.S. military and personnel who purchase items at the stores in their bases to the CCP. 'This should have never been allowed to happen,' Harrigan told the Daily Mail. 'A Chinese state-owned company with this level of access to U.S. military bases is a direct threat to national security.' 'The idea that a CCP-run retailer imported nearly 100 million pounds of raw product from China, slapped a 'Made in the USA' label on it, and sold it to American troops behind the wire is outrageous,' the congressman lamented. His Military Installation Retail Security Act introduced earlier this year would ban any Chinese-owned retailers from operating on U.S. military installations and bases. Harrigan's new letter requests DHS and FDA criminally investigate GNC and the private-label manufacturers under the latter agency's Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), which grants authority to the FDA for oversight and regulation of food and drug safety. The letter also notes that Harrigan wants an audit of GNC's ingredients to find where they are sourced from in order to conclude if the company made any false or misleading representations of the products' contents and countries of origin. 'Americans deserve transparency and safety in the products they consume—especially our service members,' Harrigan writes in the conclusion of his letter to the agency heads. 'No company with opaque foreign ownership, a pattern of fraud and unchecked access to military personnel should be permitted to continue unchecked.' Exiger's report of the national security risk assessment from GNC notes that since the CCP-takeover of GNC in 2020, the company has imported 4,341 ingredient shipments from China worth $500 million. Still, GNC claims 96 percent of its products are 'Made in the USA.' Nick Sero told the Daily Mail in April that 'no GNC-branded product is manufactured in China.' He said the mere 4 percent of GNC products that aren't made in the U.S. are largely produced in the United Kingdom and Canada. 'None of our GNC-branded products are made in China, and our parent company does not have any influence on our products,' Sero assured. There are 85 GNC stores open on U.S. military bases, including 76 within Army and Air Force exchanges, nine within Marine Corps post exchanges and eight in Navy exchanges. None of them are subject to direct Department of Defense oversight, Harrigan laments. A base or post exchange is a retail space that most closely resembles a department store but is only open to military members and their families as well as veterans or a select few with access to the military base. In 2019, GNC sold its private-label manufacturing operations to International Vitamin Corp. (IVC), which is known to source its ingredients and products from China, according to the Exiger report. The risk assessment group identified 4,925 U.S.-bound shipments to IVC and its manufacturing division Nutra Manufacturing Nutra. Its findings conclude that 88 percent of the shipments meant for GNC arrived from a port in China while the next highest country of origin was from South Korea with just 8 percent. Exiger claims that 3,122 of the China-origin shipments were unloaded in Charleston, South Carolina and addressed to Nutra/IVC facilities in either Greenville or Anderson, South Carolina where they have manufacturing plants.
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Kristi Noem under pressure to investigate China's ties to major health supplement supplier on US military bases
Donald Trump 's administration is facing calls to investigate China 's ties to a supplement store present on dozens of U.S. military bases. Republican Rep. Pat Harrigan is demanding an investigation into GNC's claims that the vast majority of its products are made in the U.S.A. The North Carolina congressman alleges that nine out of 10 GNC ingredients are actually sourced from China, which is one of the top adversaries of the U.S. And he says this poses a major problem since Chinese-owned GNC is a major health supplement supplier on U.S. military bases. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and FDA Commissioner Robert Califf are facing pressure to get to the bottom of the discrepancies Harrigan is claiming. '[O]ur analysis reveals that nearly 90 percent of GNC's private-label ingredients are sourced from China, despite GNC's public claims that 96 percent of its products are U.S.-made,' Harrigan's letter to Noem and Califf reads, according to a copy obtained by the Daily Mail. 'GNC's record of compliance is deeply flawed,' the letter states. 'In 2016, it paid a $2.25 million fine to the DOJ over the sale of dietary supplements containing unapproved ingredients.' Harrigan's request for another investigation is part of his continued efforts to get all General Nutrition Centers (GNC) stores kicked off U.S. military bases. There are approximately 85 GNC retail stores on U.S. military bases. While its Chinese ownership is not a secret, Harrigan is concerned that the company engaged in 'food fraud' by misrepresenting where its consumable products originated, he notes in his letter to Noem and Califf. A spokesperson for GNC told the Daily Mail that, like many other companies, the supplement store sources raw ingredients from around the world. He explained that once it arrives in the U.S., the ingredients go through a rigorous analysis and testing process before they are used to domestically produce consumables sold at GNC stores. 'GNC stands by the fact that over 96 percent of our branded supplements are made right here in the United States,' GNC Public Relations Director Nick Sero said. He told the Daily Mail: 'We've proudly invested more than $250 million into our domestic supply chain with major manufacturing partners across more than 10 states, including Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, and California.' Sero also said that GNC leaders met with Harrigan in his office in May and explained the global sourcing of their products but the domestic quality testing. 'Every GNC-branded supplement is held to a rigorous 150-point quality and safety checklist, which includes testing of sourced ingredients for purity and potency, to ensure everything we offer meets our high standards,' Sero said. 'We welcome any conversation, whether with Congress, the FDA, or the public, about our products and our ongoing commitment to the U.S. military, our customers, and American manufacturing.' Besides the ingredients, Harrigan is also concerned about the potential threat the Chinese-owned company could pose to national security – especially when it comes to operations in military installations. The growing threat from China continues to be something that Congress and the Trump administration is monitoring. The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) says China has quietly seized control or influence over 37 major seaports across Latin America and the Caribbean and is using the cover network to ship and supply weapons. It gives Beijing the power to spy on U.S. military activity, choke off vital shipping lanes, and even launch a surprise military strike on American soil. Meanwhile, a South Carolina port is being used by China to indiscreetly ship in products used in health supplements sold at GNC stores, according to an analysis referenced by Harrigan. The congressman and 12 of his House colleagues in April signed a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding the Justice Department investigate whether GNC violated federal law by falsely stating in 2022 and 2023 that it had no parent company. In 2020, GNC was bought out of its bankruptcy and is now wholly owned by Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, a Chinese state-owned company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It remains headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, despite its relatively new foreign ownership. In his new letter, Harrigan includes an enclosure of a risk analysis on GNC Holdings LLC from Exiger, a third-party risk assessment and supply chain risk management company. Exiger determined in the June report that HNC poses a medium-high overall risk to the U.S. It also found that the Chinese-state ownership of GNC poses an intelligence risk and exposes the personal data of U.S. military and personnel who purchase items at the stores in their bases to the CCP. 'This should have never been allowed to happen,' Harrigan told the Daily Mail. 'A Chinese state-owned company with this level of access to U.S. military bases is a direct threat to national security.' 'The idea that a CCP-run retailer imported nearly 100 million pounds of raw product from China, slapped a 'Made in the USA' label on it, and sold it to American troops behind the wire is outrageous,' the congressman lamented. His Military Installation Retail Security Act introduced earlier this year would ban any Chinese-owned retailers from operating on U.S. military installations and bases. Harrigan's new letter requests DHS and FDA criminally investigate GNC and the private-label manufacturers under the latter agency's Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), which grants authority to the FDA for oversight and regulation of food and drug safety. The letter also notes that Harrigan wants an audit of GNC's ingredients to find where they are sourced from in order to conclude if the company made any false or misleading representations of the products' contents and countries of origin. 'Americans deserve transparency and safety in the products they consume—especially our service members,' Harrigan writes in the conclusion of his letter to the agency heads. 'No company with opaque foreign ownership, a pattern of fraud and unchecked access to military personnel should be permitted to continue unchecked.' Exiger's report of the national security risk assessment from GNC notes that since the CCP-takeover of GNC in 2020, the company has imported 4,341 ingredient shipments from China worth $500 million. Still, GNC claims 96 percent of its products are 'Made in the USA.' Nick Sero told the Daily Mail in April that 'no GNC-branded product is manufactured in China.' He said the mere 4 percent of GNC products that aren't made in the U.S. are largely produced in the United Kingdom and Canada. 'None of our GNC-branded products are made in China, and our parent company does not have any influence on our products,' Sero assured. There are 85 GNC stores open on U.S. military bases, including 76 within Army and Air Force exchanges, nine within Marine Corps post exchanges and eight in Navy exchanges. None of them are subject to direct Department of Defense oversight, Harrigan laments. A base or post exchange is a retail space that most closely resembles a department store but is only open to military members and their families as well as veterans or a select few with access to the military base. In 2019, GNC sold its private-label manufacturing operations to International Vitamin Corp. (IVC), which is known to source its ingredients and products from China, according to the Exiger report. The risk assessment group identified 4,925 U.S.-bound shipments to IVC and its manufacturing division Nutra Manufacturing Nutra. Its findings conclude that 88 percent of the shipments meant for GNC arrived from a port in China while the next highest country of origin was from South Korea with just 8 percent. Exiger claims that 3,122 of the China-origin shipments were unloaded in Charleston, South Carolina and addressed to Nutra/IVC facilities in either Greenville or Anderson, South Carolina where they have manufacturing plants.
Winnipeg Free Press
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canada to visit Germany to conclude Gridiron Nations Championship
The Canadian senior men's football team will face Germany this fall to conclude the inaugural Gridiron Nations Championship. The contest will be played Nov. 16 in Bochum, Germany. Canada opened the GNC with a 56-0 win over Italy on April 19 in Cagliari, Sardinia. Max Nixon scored touchdowns on an interception return and blocked punt recovery for the Canadians while quarterback Michael O'Connor, a former CFL player with Calgary, Toronto and B.C., finished 11-of-14 passing for 138 yards with two touchdowns. Chris Merchant, who won a Vanier Cup with Western in 2017 and was the game MVP, completed 10-of-13 passes for 163 yards and a TD. The GNC winner will be determined by overall record, with the Canada-Germany contest potentially serving as the deciding game. If all three teams finished with 1-1 records, the tiebreaker will be point differential. Germany has enjoyed much football success in Europe. It claimed gold at the 2001, 2010 and 2014 IFAF European Championship while having finished second on three occasions. Canada's senior men's team has made just one appearance at the IFAF world championship, earning silver in 2011. The national junior program has won three straight world titles. 'A championship like this is essential for the growth of the sport,' said Canada head coach Jesse Maddox. 'We're excited to take on a top-tier program like Germany creating a new starting point and championship within a global competition. 'The Nations Championship is exactly what international football needs — regular, meaningful games between national teams. It provides an opportunity for us to go for gold in 2025.' Germany and Italy will also compete in the 2025 IFAF European championship, which begins Oct. 25. The Germans will take on Austria while Italy faces Finland. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2025.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Greencore Group plc (LON:GNC) is largely controlled by institutional shareholders who own 75% of the company
Significantly high institutional ownership implies Greencore Group's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 53% ownership Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. To get a sense of who is truly in control of Greencore Group plc (LON:GNC), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 75% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company. Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Greencore Group. Check out our latest analysis for Greencore Group Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Greencore Group. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Greencore Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. It would appear that 6.3% of Greencore Group shares are controlled by hedge funds. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Polaris Capital Management, LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 11% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.7% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.7% by the third-largest shareholder. We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent. While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too. The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves. I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions. Our information suggests that Greencore Group plc insiders own under 1% of the company. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own UK£1.8m worth of shares. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling. With a 18% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Greencore Group. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Greencore Group better, we need to consider many other factors. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph. But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
