The drumbeat about health issues likely connected to Green Pasture fermented cod liver oil is growing louder by the day, it seems. Except the drumbeat seems not to be heard across the plains of Nebraska at Green Pasture headquarters.

Ann Marie Michaels of Cheeseslave has compiled more than 80 complaints of vitamin D deficiency, heart problems, hair loss, skin rashes, and other maladies from people who said they were using Green Pasture Fermented cod liver oil.

Serious marine lipid experts are also throwing cold water on the arguments from Dave Wetzel of Green Pasture and Sally Fallon Morell of the Weston A. Price Foundation that rancidity levels of FCLO are nothing to be concerned about. Dr. Rudi Moerck, one of the world’s leading experts on marine oils and omega 3s, said in an interview on Cheeeseslave that rancid cod liver oil poses potentially serious health hazards, including cancer and heart disease. (He also said it’s like ingesting something akin to furniture re-finishing oil.)

A number of people on this blog have expressed serious concerns about their own health problems, like significant hair loss and vitamin D deficiencies, and are wondering if state and federal regulators should be called on to investigate Green Pasture.

But the official word out of O’Neil, Nebraska, the home of Green Pasture, is that there are no FCLO health problems. The reason I can report that is that it turns out at least one regulator has begun making inquiries into the FCLO affair, and Wetzel denies FCLO health problems. Shortly after Kaayla Daniel issued her report on FCLO in late August, she also filed a complaint about Green Pasture with the Nebraska attorney general’s office.

Shortly after that, Dave Wetzel of Green Pasture filed a  response to the AG’s inquiry, including a five-page letter of denial and seventy pages of supporting documentation. In his October 7 letter, Wetzel goes through many of the same arguments he went through in his official September response, shortly after the Daniel report broke, saying that scientists he’s had testing the product have pronounced it fine, and rejected the rancidity concerns. He characterizes Daniel’s complaint as “part of an ongoing campaign by Ms. Daniel to discredit Green Pasture Products.”

But Wetzel, in the next-to-last paragraph of his letter, makes this statement about possible health issues associated with FCLO: “Finally, it bears noting that the FDA requires manufacturers of dietary supplements, such as Green Pasture Products, to comply with adverse event reporting requirements. To my knowledge, there have not been any significant consumer reports of adverse health events reported in connection with any of Green Pasture dietary supplements. The FDA has received only one report of an adverse reaction—fever—experienced by a long-time user of our Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil in response to a particular batch. However, the FDA noted that they had not ‘established a relationship between the reported event and your product.’ “

So as of three weeks ago, Wetzel was very much into official denial. It’s difficult to imagine him shifting, even with the outpouring of even more stories and concerns of the last few weeks. After all, concerns have been expressed by users of FCLO going back nearly two years.

Does that mean consumers should organize themselves to demand action from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or state agencies to halt FCLO sales? Certainly there is nothing wrong with reporting health problems and demanding investigations of Green Pasture. But regulatory action? I thought Sha’s comment was on target: “Are we truly discussing the FDA? Really? REALLY?!?! On a food freedom blog? How fast we are willing to throw out our principals in the pursuit of something we do not agree with….Let us get past the whole white knight syndrome here, and stop acting like other people need us to save them. You can empower them to save themselves by giving them good info. Allow them to decide what products they want to take or not. Damn.”

Amanda’s suggestion that worried customers call Green Pasture en masse and demand a recall or serious warning labels isn’t a bad idea, either. Weston A. Price Foundation members can also demand that the organization pull its endorsement of FCLO and pressure Green Pasture to issue warnings or otherwise alert customers about the potential dangers. I have made those suggestions on this blog, and personally written Wetzel and Fallon Morell with the same requests. Because it’s clear neither Wetzel nor Morell are about to take the initiative to protect their customers and members.