BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - July 15, 2002 - In a move aimed at bringing comprehensive, up-to-date and trustworthy health information to millions of online consumers, Vitacost.com has acquired DrKoop.com, a well-known consumer health Web site. Vitacost.com is a privately held, online source of consumer health information and high-quality health products and nutraceuticals.

DrKoop.com is readily recognizable as one of the first and largest online providers of consumer health information. The site currently attracts more than 900,000 visitors per month and has a database of more than 2 million registered users. The acquisition by Vitacost.com will result in a thorough update of information pertaining to mainstream medicine and the addition of information about natural/alternative medicines. This content will be updated daily after the site's initial relaunch.

"Consumers are increasingly hungry to educate themselves about how both mainstream and natural or complementary medical practices can enhance their personal health and wellness," said Allen S. Josephs, M.D., president of Vitacost.com. "We intend to build on the trust people hold for DrKoop.com by making it a single source for scientifically sound information about all aspects of medicine."

Founded in 1997, DrKoop.com was funded with more than $200 million dollars and reached a market capitalization of more than $1 billion before the crash of the Internet stock market precipitated the company's bankruptcy filing in December 2001. Under the terms of the transaction announced today, Vitacost.com paid $186,000 in cash for DrKoop.com's assets, which included the brand name, trademarks, domain names, the Web site and the e-mail addresses of its registered users. (No other personal information - names, phone numbers, health information or purchase histories - was transferred, and users were given the option to remove themselves from the database in advance of the sale.)

"The conservative approach Vitacost.com has taken toward growth and outside funding was viewed as almost contrarian during the heyday of the 'dotcom' era. In fact we did not have and do not have one venture capitalist investor nor did we do an IPO," said Josephs. "But now our business model has borne itself out - we have achieved profitability and are using internally generated profits to acquire well-known online brands like DrKoop.com and make good on the value promises sites like these made long ago to their customers and investors."

Going forward, Vitacost.com will manage the upkeep of mainstream medical content on DrKoop.com, and enhance the site with information on natural and complementary medicine.

To produce this content, Vitacost.com will rely on its scientific advisory board, which is made up of prestigious medical doctors who integrate natural/complementary medicine into their mainstream practices. These advisors include doctors board-certified in internal medicine, neurology, ophthalmology, ob/gyn, rheumatology, geriatrics and psychiatry. The board regularly reviews thousands of medical and scientific studies relevant to Vitacost.com's product lines in order to guide the company in deciding which products to offer. The board's responsibilities will now be expanded to include development of content for DrKoop.com.

About Vitacost.com
Vitacost.com is a privately held, online source of consumer health information and high-quality health products and nutraceuticals, whose mission is to help customers better manage their personal health. The company sells most of its products at wholesale prices (30 - 75% savings), and further enhances their value through independent laboratory testing and evaluation of relevant scientific literature by a panel of prestigious medical experts.

About DrKoop.com
DrKoop.com, a newly acquired subsidiary of Vitacost.com, is a consumer- focused interactive Web site that provides comprehensive healthcare news and information on a wide variety of subjects.

Note: The drkoop.com URL and Web site is not associated with C. Everett Koop, M.D., former Surgeon General of the United States.

Media Contacts: Jeanne Berkowitz/Jeff Speer
FischerHealth Inc.
(310) 577-7870 x164/156
jberkowitz@fischerhealth.com
jspeer@fischerhealth.com