Marc Saint Onge, CEO of the defunct BlackOxygen Organics, approached Youngevity in November 2021 shortly after his company ceased operations. This transition, detailed in a September 12th report by TINA, suggests a direct continuation of products previously flagged by health regulators for containing dangerous contaminants.

BlackOxygen Organics, often known as BOO, became a significant multilevel marketing failure last year. The company marketed a product derived from Canadian bog dirt, harvested from an area reportedly located near an industrial waste disposal site. Proponents claimed these "fulvic acid" products offered wide-ranging health benefits, a common tactic in the unregulated supplement market. However, Health Canada issued a recall on BlackOxygen Organics products in October 2021 due to identified health risks. Regulators specifically warned consumers to stop taking these products and explicitly advised against administering them to children or adolescents.

BOO ceased all operations by the end of November 2021. Around the same time, a class-action lawsuit was filed against BOO, alleging the company sold supplements that were "dangerous for human use and consumption." The legal proceedings for the BOO class-action remain pending. Further compounding the regulatory issues, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed in December that BOO's products contained elevated levels of lead and arsenic, heavy metals known to pose serious health risks.

Despite these findings and the product recall, US regulators have taken no further public enforcement action against BOO or its owner and CEO, Marc Saint Onge. Following the abrupt closure of BOO, TINA reports Saint Onge immediately initiated contact with Youngevity. This outreach led to Youngevity subsequently sending an email to former BOO distributors, inviting them to join its network.

The email from Youngevity directly addressed the former BOO salesforce. It stated, "After the executive team of Black Oxygen Organics closed their doors, they approached Youngevity through mutual contacts and wondered if there might be an opportunity for us to assist with their displaced Brand Partners and Customers." The message continued, "They expressed to Youngevity that they still have an interested, tight-knit community, and they'd love to settle somewhere where they can continue to participate in a compensation program. Youngevity has that."

This communication suggests Youngevity likely acquired the BOO distributor database from Saint Onge, presumably for an undisclosed sum. The transition also raises questions about whether Saint Onge sold Youngevity distribution rights for BOO's previously banned products. Accompanying Youngevity's unsolicited email was a promotional flyer for "Midnight Minerals," described as Youngevity's new fulvic acid product.

TINA directly contacted Youngevity to inquire if Midnight Minerals constituted repackaged versions of BOO's banned supplements. Youngevity did not provide a response to this specific inquiry. Furthermore, Youngevity's product information for Midnight Minerals does not include country of origin details, a common transparency practice for dietary supplements.

However, a Youngevity corporate webinar from June 2022 offers a strong indication of the product's source. During the webinar, CEO Steve Wallach pitched Midnight Minerals to prospective distributors. At the 11:46 mark of the presentation, Wallach stated, "Fulvic acid and humic acid are plant acids as well. And they're usually associated with concentrated plant matter, like our Utah plant minerals." He then explicitly added, "Like the fulvic minerals from Canada that this product is derived from. That comes from a peat bog in Canada."

Wallach's statement strongly suggests Youngevity is importing the same bog material previously sourced and sold by BlackOxygen Organics, now under the "Midnight Minerals" brand. The explicit mention of "fulvic minerals from Canada" derived from a "peat bog in Canada" aligns directly with BOO's original product origin, which was the subject of significant health warnings and regulatory recalls. This pattern allows a product source linked to contaminants to re-enter the market through a new entity.

The class-action lawsuit against BlackOxygen Organics, alleging the sale of dangerous supplements containing lead and arsenic, remains pending in the courts.