Sweet Peach creator Audrey Hutchinson has addressed the controversy generated over her new product last week, saying the new probiotic supplement is aimed at improving women's health - and not intended to make vaginas smell like peaches.
The confusion took place at last week's DEMO conference, where entrepreneurs Austen Heinz, who owns a 10 percent stake in Sweat Peach, and Gilad Gome mischaracterized the supplement as a product that would make a woman's vagina smell like peaches as a way to give the body a more desirable scent, according to Tech Times. Heinz is the founder of Cambrian Genomics and Gome is the founder of Personalized Probiotics; both companies are biotech startups. Sweet Peach will be made using Cambrian Genomics' DNA printing technology, according to Inc.
Hutchinson says Sweat Peach's name is a reference not to vaginas smelling like peaches but to the fruit as a symbol for the vagina, The Independent reported.
Sweat Peach wasn't scheduled to be revealed at the tech conference and was supposed to remain a secret.
Hutchinson said the true purpose of the supplement is to target health issues like yeast infections and urinary track infections (UTIs), Tech Times reported. Women will send vaginal micriobiome samples to a lab to be studied, after which Sweat Peach will create a supplement that will provide balance and keep bacteria from causing yeast infections, UTIs and other problems in the body.
"This way people won't have to go to clinics or pay to see a doctor. It's an affordable way for women to have agency in their reproductive health," the CEO explained.
Hutchinson added that he was upset at the confusion and offered an apology "to every woman in the world who's heard about this and wants my head on a stake."
Heinz apologized to Hutchinson about the incident, and while he says the confusion might spark interest in the company, the mischaracterization caused some of Cambrian Genomics' investors to pull out, Tech Times reported. Cambrian Genomics was able to raise $10 million in funding prior to the incident, but the confusion with Sweat Peach prevented that number from being higher.
