SEC finishes Usana probe, finds nothing incriminating

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has completed its inquiry into Usana Health Services Inc., the Salt Lake-based vitamin maker and found nothing incriminating, the company said Friday.

Usana received notification from the SEC that no "enforcement action" is being recommended, the company said in a statement.

The SEC probe, begun in March, was sparked by comments made by trader Barry Minkow in the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" column. The newspaper cited Minkow, who served several years in prison for stock fraud in the 1990s, as saying the company's sales model required the constant recruitment of new distributors and that the pool would eventually dry up. Usana refuted the criticism and sued Minkow.

"We have always been confident about the integrity of our company and take pride in our direct-selling business model," said David Wentz, Usana's president.

Usana's had fallen 5 percent in the past year. After the announcement Friday, the stock jumped 39 percent, to $49.48 at 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.