Raena Morgan: Hello, I’m visiting with Dr. Stuart Reeves. He is the Director of Research and Development at Embria Health Sciences, and we’re talking about EpiCor. And, Dr. Reeves, when I told my son in Florida that I was going to be visiting with Embria about EpiCor…I told him the history and how it had helped people’s immune systems. And, I told him it was yeast based. He was very puzzled. He said, “I thought that yeast wasn’t good for you.” And doesn’t yeast have a bad name, a bad rep these days Dr. Reeves? Dr. Stuart Reeves: There’s a lot of confusion about the term—yeast. There are many, many different species of yeast. And yes, some of them, like some of the Candida species, are, in fact, extremely bad for you. The yeast we use is saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is better known as brewer’s yeast or baker’s yeast. It’s the same yeast used to make bread, beer, wine; it’s all over nature. If you leave orange juice out on the counter yeast will drop in and ferment it. Raena Morgan: Really? Dr. Stuart Reeves: Oh yes. And, this yeast is harmless as far as anybody has ever been able to discover. We have been using it and consuming it for thousands and thousands of years. There are some people who say they are allergic to yeast and people who never eat baked products, never drink any fermented products—no beers, no wines—people who wash and sterilize all their food all the time to avoid all yeasts—maybe they shouldn’t be taking EpiCor. But anyone that eats bread and drinks wine— Raena Morgan: Or beer— Dr. Stuart Reeves: Or beer—should be extremely safe taking EpiCor. And, having explained that yeast is harmless, I do need to add that EpiCor isn’t just yeast. Raena Morgan: Okay. Dr. Stuart Reeves: If EpiCor were just yeast you could go out and eat bread. Its yeast fermented in a proprietary fermentation medium. We stress the yeast to make it produce a whole range of metabolites. In fact, the yeast thinks it’s in a bad environment when we make it and it’s trying to save itself. So, it produces a lot of chemicals that help keep it alive. And, then we take this whole fermentation—everything—and we dry it to preserve everything that’s in it in the form that it was in before we started drying. So, yes, our product is yeast based and contains yeast. It also contains a lot of other things that [explain] why it impacts our immune system in such a general balancing manner. It’s not a single component. It’s not a single active ingredient like [in] many products. It’s a complex fermentation mixture with multiple complex reactions. Raena Morgan: You’ve mentioned other ingredients beyond yeast, what would those be Dr. Reeves? Dr. Stuart Reeves: These include vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, proteins, amino acids— there’s a whole range of healthy beneficial parts of our complex product. Raena Morgan: And it is complex, and it’s not just yeast. Dr. Stuart Reeves: It’s extremely complex. If it was just yeast anybody could make it. We make something unique. Raena Morgan: Okay. Well, thank you Dr. Reeves.