Consumer Reports’ Consumerist blog reports that herbal supplements from GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart were DNA tested to see if they contained the advertised supplement inside each bottle.
More than half the supplements sold at these stores were not present in the bottles!
- At GNC, DNA results on store brand “Herbals Plus” matched the labels only 22% of the time
- At Target, DNA results on store brand “Up & Up” matched 41% of the labels
- At Walgreens, DNA results on store brand “Finest Nutrition” matched 18% of the the labels
- At Walmart, DNA results on store brand “Spring Valley” matched only 4% of the labels
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman commissioned the study, and he has asked these stores to stop selling these store-brand supplements immediately.
From the article:
Unlike medications, which are heavily scrutinized by the FDA, herbal supplements are not subject to a rigorous evaluation process. But you still can’t advertise that you’re selling one thing and sell consumers something completely different. That’s why Schneiderman’s office is looking at potential violations of New York’s General Business Law and Executive Law.
SSMark1 says
If the label is incorrect, then I would LOVE to see a list of what is REALLY in there and the percentages of ingredients!
I wonder how many people that have allergies or illnesses due to some of the unlabeled ingredients were suffering from something they were thought may help them, weren’t really getting it, and were ingesting something that actually made them worse off?
Lawsuits!
-Mark
PS … I’m at the corner of Happy & Healthy with store brand “Finest Nutrition”! LOL!!!
soapboxtray says
Ugh… not surprised really but makes me wonder how companies can get away with this.
J.R. says
I’m surprised they limited their test to store generics. And I would expect similar results from the products sold at Jewel, Meijer, and elsewhere.
Between the other generics sold at multiple locations, and even the “name brands” I’d expect this trend to be common across the entire industry. With no regulation, any one can put anything they want in a bottle and sell it as whatever they choose. Most of these are a waste of money, and some of the unlabeled ingredients could be health hazards to folks with allergies.
When I shop, I always get the extra strength placebos :)