Career chronology, the claims made for hyperimmune egg, what the evidence shows, and the regulatory record
In December 2001 Terry Polevoy dialled into a Legacy for Life recruiting call and recorded Mark Yarnell pitching BioChoice Immune26 to what he said was more than a thousand listeners. That recording and its transcript are on the companion page. This page supplies the context the call leaves out: who Yarnell was, how he came to be selling an egg powder, what the product's own science shows, and what regulators did about the claims made for it.
Entries marked as Yarnell's own account come from a 2014 podcast interview and his December 2001 call; they have not been independently confirmed.
Seven weeks after the call, on 28 January 2002, the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition sent a warning letter, by certified mail, to Adrian V. Mathews, Independent Distributor #505-140 for Legacy for Life, Inc., in Portland, Oregon. The FDA had reviewed her website, iwr.com/biochoice, and found that “BioChoice® Immune Support” and “BioChoice® Immune 26” were being promoted as drugs, “intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.” The claims it quoted from her site included:
The FDA said it had no information that the products were generally recognized as safe and effective for these conditions, so they might also be unapproved “new drugs,” and that continued marketing with these claims “may subject you or the products to regulatory action without further notice.” The letter was signed by John B. Foret, Director of the Division of Compliance and Enforcement in the Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling and Dietary Supplements.
| Yarnell on the call, 6 December 2001 | A Legacy for Life distributor's website, cited by the FDA |
|---|---|
| “Immune26 will not block anthrax.” | Invokes the scientist who developed weaponised anthrax and says BioChoice may help the body defend itself against biological weapons. |
| “Immune 26 does not cure fibromyalgia or lupus or chronic fatigue syndrome or diabetes…” | “Helps the body protect itself from… over 80 autoimmune diseases, such as: Lupus, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Diabetes, Psoriasis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.” |
| “It's not a medical claim product because it doesn't target disease or infection.” | “Safe and natural protection against over 26 infectious bacteria… E.Coli, Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Pneumonia, Streptococcus, Influenza.” |
Immune26, now i26, is dried whole egg. The hens that lay the eggs are injected with inactivated bacteria (the company says more than 26 kinds) so that their eggs contain antibodies, called IgY, against those bacteria. The idea of feeding people “hyperimmune” food goes back decades; Legacy for Life said the product was developed by two Fortune 500 companies before its scientists acquired it. Its chief science officer, Dr. Hellen Greenblatt, was a fixture of the company's weekly calls; Yarnell told his December 2001 listeners to “join Dr. Helen Greenblatt and all the many fun medical people and testimonials on Tuesday nights.”
| Claim | What the evidence shows |
|---|---|
| “Immune26 is a patented biotechnology that balances the immune system.” (Yarnell, 2001) | “Balancing the immune system” is not a measurable medical effect. The phrase lets a seller imply benefit against every illness while naming none. |
| i26 is “clinically proven to work with the body to support joint, cardiovascular and digestive health.” (Legacy for Life press release, 2010) | The Natural Medicines database, as summarised by RxList, rates every use of hyperimmune egg as having insufficient evidence. A study of this branded product in rheumatoid arthritis found no significant improvement; a 26-week study found it did not significantly lower cholesterol; an osteoarthritis study reported less pain but is described as poorly designed. Most of the research comes from the manufacturer. |
| “Targeted immune protection against 26 human-relevant bacteria.” (online retailer, 2026) | The best-designed trial in the field, a randomised placebo-controlled study in children with rotavirus diarrhoea, used purified antibodies raised against rotavirus, not this product, and found only a modest effect. No trial shows i26 prevents infection. |
| “It's not a medical claim product because it doesn't target disease or infection.” (Yarnell, 2001) | That is the legal line for dietary supplements: they may claim to support a body function, but a claim to treat or prevent a disease makes the product an unapproved drug. A distributor's website crossed it, promising protection against anthrax, infections and autoimmune disease, and drew the FDA's January 2002 letter (see above). |
Safety: people allergic to eggs should avoid hyperimmune egg products, and there is not enough information on use in pregnancy or by children.
| What he said | What we found |
|---|---|
| “Our product is in the physician's desk reference.” | Not verified. Supplement makers can pay for listings in commercial supplement guides; a listing is not an endorsement or an approval. |
| “112 patents. That's 112 specific applications.” | Not verified. Patents exist on hyperimmune egg products, but a patent shows a method is new, not that it works. |
| An “ABC investigative journalist” called it “a miracle powder.” | No such ABC report has been found. He named neither the programme nor the reporter. |
| “You made $18 million in your last MLM venture.” | His own figure. In a 2014 interview he described his Nu Skin income differently: about $30,000 a month within a year, later “a couple of hundred thousand” a month. |
| The certification course has been taught “since '91.” | Industry notices published at his death say the course has been taught since 1993. |
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