For a few weeks now we’ve been hearing from eagle-eyed former Scientologists who noticed something odd about those ubiquitous ads you run into for the dietary supplements company “Balance of Nature.”
Balance of Nature promises all sorts of health benefits if you consume their capsules containing ingredients from fruits and veggies. The company is all over the place, particularly on conservative talk radio, and its Internet ads pop up all over. You may have seen the one we’re talking about which features a “Dr. Roger Bond” who explains that he was having respiratory problems and couldn’t spend time with his horses and his family until he started taking Balance of Nature pills.
At one point during his testimonial, you can see some books behind him that are a bit of a blur. But they are easily recognizable to Scientologists, who tell us there’s no doubt that they’re the Scientology “admin” or green volumes, with advice from L. Ron Hubbard about how to run businesses.
We’ve been telling you for years that Scientology targets chiropractors, dentists, and veterinarians with their “admin technology,” sold through various management front groups under the umbrella organization WISE, the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises. And those books in his office suggest that Bond is a WISE chiropractor.
But we were hesitant to point out the admin volumes in the Balance of Nature ad. The spot was supposedly about a customer, Dr. Roger Bond, who is an actual chiropractor in St. George, Utah, and we didn’t know if the fact that Balance of Nature chose to film the testimonial of a WISE chiropractor meant that the supplements company itself was affiliated with Scientology.
That changed yesterday.
We heard from an actual Balance of Nature employee who will remain nameless, but who wanted us to see some interesting photos taken inside the St. George headquarters of the Utah company.
Taken on December 28, this is the view inside the headquarters, which recently moved to a new location at 1568 South River Road.
Following that sign leads to another…
Hubbard College of Administration is part of Scientology’s WISE front operation, promising a “college education” based on L. Ron Hubbard’s admin tech, the same admin volumes used in the Church of Scientology and which could be seen in the ad behind Dr. Bond (who, it turns out, is an employee).
And Balance of Nature is apparently such a WISE operation, it has a Hubbard College inside its own headquarters.
According to his bio, chiropractor Douglas Howard started Balance of Nature in 1997. It’s run by him and his son Lex Howard, who is the company CEO.
On the website for the Los Angeles headquarters of the Hubbard College of Administration, we found this testimonial from Lex:
The greatest win that I got from Handling the Ups & Downs in Life course for my career education was the ability to confront those that may be suppressing me in my life. It has been amazing to notice the difference in my self at the workplace after learning this data. By Lex Douglas Howard, an American student from St George, Utah on the How to Manage People certificate program at the Hubbard College of Administration (HCA), Los Angeles, CA. The HCA is a self-paced business school that offers an exceptional business administration curriculum, unique learning technology, life-changing internships, assistance with job placement and a lifetime warranty for students. I am currently on the Personal Integrity Course.
Let’s be clear about this: The “Handling the Ups & Downs in Life Course” and the “Personal Integrity Course” are Scientology courses, not business college courses.
That photo was obviously taken several years ago. More recently Lex appeared on the Joe Piscopo radio show, which has operated as a major promoter of Balance of Nature.
Nowhere on Balance of Nature’s website or in its literature about its supplements will you find references to Scientology or L. Ron Hubbard. But the employee wanted us to know that inside the building, Hubbard and Scientology is a major presence.
“They actually set aside time in a lot of meetings for managers to testify about how Hubbard has blessed their lives,” the person tells us.
And then they showed us this detail from the employee packet that new hires get…
Balance of Nature pays for instructors of Hubbard College to travel to St. George and offer courses each month. All employees are encouraged to attend each month and are allowed to invite their spouse or family members with approval through a CSW. Credits earned may be applied to a Business Administration Degree. Attending Hubbard College is not mandatory but is certainly encouraged. For more information, speak to your Manager.
We called the River Road headquarters yesterday and reached a friendly woman named Barbara.
The Bunker: You have a Hubbard College?
Barbara: Yes.
The Bunker: Is it open to the public?
Barbara: Hold on a second…Yes, they are. We haven’t had a lot of people here who have attended. But we do have people fly out from California all the time who go there. Probably the best thing is for you to come by and we’ll hook you up with them.
We thanked Barbara for that suggestion.
In 2019 the FDA issued a scathing letter to Evig LLC, the company behind Balance of Nature, warning it that its operation was shoddy and its claims misleading.
From our pal ShowBiz411.com writer Roger Friedman’s reporting on the FDA warning:
The FDA warns: “…the products have been prepared, packed, or held under conditions that do not meet the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) requirements for dietary supplement…You failed to implement a system of production and process controls to ensure the quality of the dietary supplement and that the dietary supplement is packaged and labeled as specified in the master manufacturing record, as required by 21 CFR 111.55. Specifically, you have not established and implemented a system of production and process controls.”
The FDA letter to Balance of Nature states that the company makes dozens of claims about its products. They are all “misbranded.” The letter reads, in sum: “Your products are not generally recognized as safe and effective…”
Balance of Nature products are expensive, of course, averaging around $50 a bottle. An apple, orange, and banana cost around $3 at fruit vendors in Manhattan.
In April, the New York Post reported that the watchdog group Truth in Advertising had complained to the Food Trade Commission and the FDA that Balance of Nature founder Douglas Howard had gone on the Piscopo show to claim that his pills can “prevent and help treat the coronavirus by boosting a person’s immune system.”
On March 2, Howard said on Piscopo’s “Morning Show” on AM 970 about coronavirus is “a cold virus, that’s what it is … build your immune system that’s all you can do … and your body will build its own immunity to it,” according to the complaints.
In an April 7 spot on the same show, Howard plugged “Fruits and Veggies” supplements again, saying, “Now more than ever it’s time to try Balance of Nature’s ‘Fruits’ and vegetables in capsule form. Remember the best defense against any virus is your own immune system,” according to the complaints.
A lawyer for the company responded to the Truth in Advertising complaint by saying that Howard had never claimed that Balance of Nature products were a “cure” for Covid.
We sent a detailed message yesterday to Balance of Nature’s “Div 7 Executive” and VP of Public Relations Liz Cummings, asking about Balance of Nature as a WISE operation and Scientology front. We’ll let you know if she gets back to us.
UPDATE: Here’s the response we received from Balance of Nature:
You sought an explanation regarding Balance of Nature business dealings, and what we do or do not post on our website.
Please note and report in all your future communications:
Balance of Nature is NOT a “World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) operation.”We do lease some very limited space at our St. George headquarters on River Road to several different outside businesses. This does NOT imply our association or partnership with any of those entities.
The mis-communication you received from someone from our office: That “the company flies out Hubbard People from Los Angeles” is NOT accurate. We request that not be printed, communicated, implied, or supposed.
Also note, you have identified the wrong name of our CEO in your inquiry.
Thank you for taking the research time needed to ensure the accuracy of your portrayal of Balance of Nature.
Sincerely,
Dennis Leavitt
VP of Public Relations
Balance of Nature
(We had misspelled the name of the Balance of Nature CEO on an email, but not in the story.)
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“If I walked into an org at any given instant, I would look the place over, I would probably move all the executives out of the service space. And that’s usually my first action in an org. I’m not kidding you. I move all the executives out of the service space, and that’s my first day. And work with their creditor set up so that there won’t be foreclosed on the second day. And by that time I have looked over enough of the situation, and I get a big idea as to what we can offer right now, and we offer it very promptly on any open communication line that is. And you have a special project number one, which you will be given, which is, that’s a special project. That doesn’t include with the FEBC pack; it’s with your pack, but it’s the big idea that you can do right now. And it’s already under a bit of flight, this particular one, and we haven’t got the full results on this yet. But apparently it’s producing people, and they walk in and they actually do start moving through the org lines. So you’ve got a special dissem project number one, which is a good idea.” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 3, 1971
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“Planning is to organize the Greek University of Philosophy for Corfu. They had one and in the war it was bombed out, then taken over to and by Athens. Greek VIPs of Corfu would be the Trustees. It would teach all philosophies, use Greek professors. It would have a Scn Dept. We would put an OA here and leave the UK one running. No Class VIII in this AO. Operation and Transport Services would run the AO and also procure students from Universities over the world, like professors and instructors from other universities to take courses in Corfu. The University would publish a Journal where other university professors couuld publish papers. The Greek Trustees would organize it, incorporate it. OTS would pay a % of the Scn Dept. The university would pay a percent to OTS for procuring students. Students will come to Corfu and live ashore, register and get courses on ATHENA. This is until our own Greek incorporation comes through and we could then use offices ashore, 2 of which are already rented and waiting but can’t be used until we are registered in Greece.” — The Commodore, February 3, 1969
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“For the last 11 years I have been conducting a structured, methodical examination of my past. I do some positive gain work as well, but it is primarily discovering what has happened. I have about 11,000 hours of work done so far. I’m now down to 5 minutes to 2 hours a day, 3 to 4 times a week. For about 2 years, approx 1/4 of my work was toward overts and motivators. There are a few things I have found that work for me. This is deep whole track research. Once I find a believed basic on a chain of overts, I look for the prior confusion. That is well known.”
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1997: Andreas Heldal-Lund reported a relocation of his Operation Clambake web site when his Internet provider suddenly removed access to the pages. “Operation Clambake is removed by the ISP today, without consulting me first! PS TO KOBRIN: I’m surprised it took so long for you to do something that forced me to put in some effort. You want to play it hard? Ok, I’ll make sure this will get out. You just made a lot of new enemies on the Net!”
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“Scientology/Dianetics was originally intended to END with going Clear. And then LRH realized the short con of that was going to run dry, so he came up with the LONG CON of the OT levels. It’s that simple.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson arraigned Jan 20. Next conf to set prelim, March 24.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed to March 2.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for May 20 in Los Angeles
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration. March 8: Status conference.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
Concluded litigation:
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs.
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks
The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Here’s Scientology actor Danny Masterson’s legal response to his rape accusers
[TWO years ago] After critical ‘Aftermath’ episodes, Clearwater police chief denies favoring Scientology
[THREE years ago] What L. Ron Hubbard said about religion — before Scientology became a ‘church’
[FOUR years ago] Leah Remini books the Bill Maher show, gets swung at by Giovanni Ribisi
[FIVE years ago] Ray Jeffrey fends off Scientology’s attempt to get him in hot water with the California Bar
[SIX years ago] When Richard Nixon ordered the Secret Service to investigate Scientology
[SEVEN years ago] Monique Rathbun tries to slap down Scientology’s ‘anti-SLAPP’ motion in court today
[EIGHT years ago] Super Sunday Funnies: Live-Blogging Scientology’s Super Bowl Ad!
[NINE years ago] Scientology Cartoon Tops Reddit: We Talk to its Creator, Abbey Neslen, 18
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,201 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,705 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,225 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,245 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,136 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,443 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,311 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,085 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,889 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,205 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,771 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,690 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,858 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,439 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,700 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,738 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,451 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,976 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 331 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,506 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,057 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,206 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,526 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,381 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,500 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,856 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,159 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,265 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,667 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,539 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,122 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,617 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,871 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,980 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 3, 2021 at 07:00
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Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2020 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2020), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
