While the site relies on bolded, prominently centered Flash banners with phrases like “proven to work” and “lasts longer” to drive its message home, there are some who have taken issue with both the brand’s safety and its cold-fighting abilities. A quick Google search, for example, turns up multiple attorney sites dedicated to filing class-action lawsuits against Cold-EEZE and its competitors (including Zicam and Airborne) for altering users’ sense of taste and smell.

Cold-EEZE actually stopped manufacturing its nasal spray in 2004 after a number of people came forward to complain that the Cold-EEZE spray and competitor Zicam’s version caused a loss of smell and/or a burning sensation in the nasal cavity. And the Cold-EEZE brand continues to face allegations that continual use of its lozenges causes a decreased sense of taste.

The brand actually addresses the taste-bud issue in the site’s FAQ, stating, “the most frequent side effect [of using Cold-EEZE lozenges] is a temporary change in taste… This is normal and temporary.” It’s odd to categorize the loss of taste as being “normal,” but considering the laundry list of side effects you’ll often hear rattled off for other medications on TV advertisements, perhaps a temporary loss of taste isn’t so bad (unless you’re a food critic or a chef).

Claims of how effective the brand’s products are have also come under fire. In 1999, the Quigley Corporation and QVC agreed to settle FTC charges for unsubstantiated claims made on the cable network that Cold-EEZE products could actually prevent colds and reduce the risk of contracting pneumonia, among other statements.

Most of the claims now appearing on the Cold-EEZE portal cite reduction in severity and duration of cold symptoms instead of actual prevention. To back this up, the brand posts scientific evidence in its “Clinical Studies” section. And lest you’re thinking of defecting to the Zicam or Airborne camps (homeopathic supplements that cite similar claims), Cold-EEZE also touts a “Cold-EEZE Vs. Competitors” section on the site, which shows how Cold-EEZE stacks up against its foes in the effectiveness, safety and recommendation categories.

Featured on the 360 site are tabs on how to tell the difference between a cold and the flu, tips on preventing colds, advice on how to treat a cold once you’ve got it, and healthy habits you can adopt to keep your family cough- and sniffle-free. The benefits of knowing how to combat the common cold are nothing to sneeze at. According to statistics listed on the site, 22 million school days and 58 million workdays are lost as a result of nearly a billion colds each year. Adults average two to four colds annually, while the average young petri dish (er, kid) catches five to 12 colds per year.

ColdCast, Cold-EEZE’s proprietary mapping program, locates which parts of the country are experiencing the worst common-cold epidemics. There’s also the ColdCast weekly survey, which offers up percentages and statistics about various cold-related topics (at this time, Wichita, Kansas, is the nation’s leader in people reporting cold and flu symptoms).

Whether it pays to “think zinc” still needs more independent validation. However, with a portal that’s as viral as the rhinovirus (the Quigley Corporation uses a Facebook presence and “Success Stories” section to draw more cold sufferers to the Cold-EEZE camp), there’s enough useful info to keep consumers coming back to the site, even if they don’t want to cough up money for holistic preventative medicine.