SEC conducting an inquiry, Usana says

Salt Lake-based Usana Health Sciences Inc. said Monday that the Securities and Exchange Commission's Salt Lake District Office has started an "informal inquiry" regarding the company.

Usana said it believes the action is related to "assertions appearing in the mass media" and on the Internet about the company.

Usana last week filed a defamation lawsuit against the Fraud Discovery Institute and Barry Minkow in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. Minkow, of San Diego, contends that Usana's operations are little more than a pyramid scheme. He filed a 500-page report to the SEC, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service that prompted news media coverage.

Usana said Monday it is cooperating with the SEC and contends that Minkow's recent allegations are "false and defamatory."

Usana also said Monday that its legal counsel has asked the SEC to investigate Minkow's "short or other derivative positions in its stock, as well as the false public statements made by Mr. Minkow, which Usana believes constitutes a scheme to profit from driving down the company's stock."

Usana develops and manufactures nutritional and personal care products.