New throat spray passes the test

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This article was published 28/11/2017 (2333 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg company with a strong Southeast connection has seen sales of one of its products on the rise, now that that product has been clinically proven to be safe and to be effective at fighting cold and flu-related bacteria.

Innotech Nutrition, which has been in business since 2001, currently supplies more than 20 natural health products to retailers across Canada.

Innotech CEO Wayne Friesen, who was born and raised in Steinbach, said the company has been selling their Colflex throat spray product for about the last five years, and sales have been climbing steadily despite the fact they have put minimal promotion or advertising into the product.

The product, according to Friesen is made from a combination of oregano, thyme, spearmint and lemon, and an approximately $20 bottle comes with about 165 sprays.The Colflex label suggests using the product two to three times per day to help stop bacteria growth in the throat.

Friesen said there are countless natural products available on the Canadian market, but he added doctors are reluctant to suggest products that haven’t been clinically tested and proven to be safe for regular use.

Innotech recently decided to have their Colflex throat spray clinically tested by the University of Manitoba’s Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals.

The company wanted the spray tested both for its safety for users, as well as its effectiveness in inhibiting the growth of bacteria associated with colds and flu.

Friesen said the results have come back, and those results are something that those at Innotech are very happy about.

He said that through testing, the product was proven to have halted the incubation of staph, strep, e-coli and salmonella bacteria “in less than 30 minutes.”

The tests also found the spray safe for daily use, as tests showed it had no effect on the glucose levels, lipids, or liver enzymes of those who used the spray over a four week period.

Friesen said that with all the positive feedback they had been getting about the product over the last few years, it made sense to get the product clinically tested.

“After we got our license for the Colflex we did a bunch of test marketing and after a couple of years went by we realized many people who had tried our product absolutely loved it,” Friesen said.

“So we thought ‘Let’s run this through a clinical trial.’”

He added there are myths associated with natural health products so he feels the trials add some “validation” to the Colflex throat spray product, and they have already seen the results of that validation.

“Since the clinical trial was published sales are up sharply,” Friesen said.

Friesen now hopes the product will lead to less “over-use” of antibiotics to fight ailments related to throat bacteria.

“We know a good portion of the population never walk into a health food store,” Friesen said. “But now with these results we hope they will consider grabbing this before they run for antibiotics.”

The Colflex throat spray product is currently available at Good ‘n’ Natural Health Food Store in Steinbach.

More information on Innotech Nutrition and their products can be found at innotechnutrition.com.