Oslo/Copenhagen, April 2, 2001

Nutri Pharma Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of Nutri Pharma ASA (OSE: NUT), announced today that it has expanded its marketing agreement with General Nutrition Corporation (GNC) to now include the distribution of Scan Diet™ through Nutricia Canada in the following retail trade channels: drugstores (non-prescription only), mass merchandisers, club stores and grocery stores. This new agreement adds to the existing distribution rights of Scan Diet™ in GNC’s corporate and franchise stores in Canada, along with specialty retail health food stores.

"We are excited about this new distribution opportunity for the company," said Michael Moore, Managing Director of Nutri Pharma Inc. "It only makes sense to take advantage of GNC’s strong retail presence and the distribution strengths of Nutricia Canada. Also, GNC’s experience with the brand will further strengthen the launch efforts in this significant neighboring market."

According to the large population-based Canadian Heart Health Surveys, close to half of adult Canadians are overweight and 1 in 6 is obese, with direct costs of obesity being estimated at $2 billion per annum, or 2.4% of Canada’s total health care budget. In pre-selling efforts, Nutricia Canada received such positive feedback from distributors that it has doubled its initial order of product to meet the demand.

Initially, Scan Diet™ will be offered by Nutricia Canada for sale in 18-serving canisters. Nutricia Canada is a member of the Numico family of companies. In addition, GNC also will sell Scan Diet™ through its more than 125 retail stores throughout Canada.

"The strong consumer acceptance we have experienced with Scan Diet™ has led us to pursue many new opportunities with this brand. In addition to expanding our distribution base, we have developed a canister for the Canadian market, which we have also just launched in the United States as a value pack. In Order to meet all of our American and Canadian consumers needs, we are exploring further opportunities to extend the brand by providing a full line of Scan Diet™ products," says David Heilman, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of GNC. Scan Diet™ was introduced into the United States market in June 2000. The product is available in all 50 states exclusively through GNC’s more than 4200 outlets.

General Nutrition Companies, Inc. (GNC), based in Pittsburgh, PA, is the largest nationwide specialty retailer of vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements, sports nutrition as well as many personal care and related products. GNC operates more than 4,200 retail outlets throughout the United States and 26 foreign markets including Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. GNC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Numico N.V., a worldwide market leader in specialized nutrition that includes infant and clinical nutrition and nutritional supplements. Headquartered in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, Royal Numico’s family of companies includes Rexall Sundown, Inc., a major supplier to the mass market based in Boca Raton, Fla., sports nutrition leaders Met-Rx and Worldwide Nutrition and the multi-level marketing operation of Enrich International.

Nutri Pharma ASA (OSE: NUT) is a global leader in functional foods and beverages, developing and marketing innovative functional food ingredients and products, all based on the company’s proprietary soy technology. The products address lifestyle-related diseases, such as elevated cholesterol level, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Nutri Pharma holds a market leading position in weight loss products in Nordic Countries and has introduced its weight management product Nutrilett®, branded as Scan Diet™ in the United States exclusively in GNC stores. Nutri Pharma’s shares are traded on the main list of the Oslo Stock Exchange. Nutri Pharma, headquarted in Copenhagen, has offices in Norway, Sweden, the United States, England and Germany. For additional information on Scan Diet™ visit www.scandiet.com. For additional information on the company and its pipeline of products, please visit the corporate web site at www.nutripharma.com.

For further information, please contact:

Roberta Gaffga, VP Communications, GNC: (412) 338 8890
Michael Moore, CEO Nutri Pharma Inc.: ( 412) 831 7220
Eileen Crowley. Noonarusso: (212) 696-4455, x269
Aage Oesterstroem, CF0 Nutri Pharma ASA + 45 33 38 40 06