Big chains selling fake supplements

[dabausplaya]

New York Attorney General Targets Supplements at Major Retailers

The authorities said they had conducted tests on top*selling store brands
of herbal supplements at four national retailers — GNC, Target, Walgreens and
Walmart — and found that four out of five of the products did not contain any
of the herbs on their labels. The tests showed that pills labeled medicinal herbs
often contained little more than cheap fillers like powdered rice, asparagus
and houseplants, and in some cases substances that could be dangerous to
those with allergies

So some of the more popular brands of herbal supplements are completely or mostly fake. I am taking St. John's Wort and have no way of knowing what's in it.

 

[Furious George]

bodybuilding.com got busted for something similar a few years back. Essentially they were putting the juice into supplements that were not advertised as containing it.

Unsurprising to me considering CRAZE had meth in it and was only discovered after being on sale for a fair amount of time.

I'll stick to the standard supplements for creatine and shit. You can stick your snake oil pre workouts up your arse (CRAZE actually had a noticeable effect, but then again it had meth in it soooooo)

 

[dabausplaya]

bodybuilding.com got busted for something similar a few years back. Essentially they were putting the juice into supplements that were not advertised as containing it.

Yesterday I did a search for steroids on here and I think I found a thread on that topic

http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f15/anabolic-steroids-detected-popular-dietary-supplements-2866765/

 

[Furious George]

http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/CriminalInvestigations/ucm305494.htm

Important part: BB.com only got fined 7M. absolute peanuts

 

[RockHard]

could it be possible that Anderson was the victim of shitty GNC supplements? He could have been one some perfectly legal test boosters that were tainted with anabolics?

Considering that the ones detected in his system were super cheap roids, it would make sense.

 

[lil billy]

could it be possible that Anderson was the victim of shitty GNC supplements? He could have been one some perfectly legal test boosters that were tainted with anabolics?

Considering that the ones detected in his system were super cheap roids, it would make sense.

its been claimed before. boxer andre berto claimed tainted supplements when he tested positive for traces of nandralone. he went through hearings with the csac i believe and I don't think he was ultimately suspended... but the fight that was on tap was canceled. he never fought. thats what makes this case with silva more egregious, he was allowed to fight

 

[dabausplaya]

its been claimed before. boxer andre berto claimed tainted supplements when he tested positive for traces of nandralone. he went through hearings with the csac i believe and I don't think he was ultimately suspended... but the fight that was on tap was canceled. he never fought. thats what makes this case with silva more egregious, he was allowed to fight

Don't these fighters get physicals constantly? I wonder if it would come up.

 

[oyaji poi]

could it be possible that Anderson was the victim of shitty GNC supplements? He could have been one some perfectly legal test boosters that were tainted with anabolics?

Considering that the ones detected in his system were super cheap roids, it would make sense.

I believe this is very likely in many cases. Maybe not in this case, but when a sponsor sends a box of supplements to an athlete or his gym they might assume it's all legit.

Case in point, preworkouts that contain meth or things which appear to be meth after being broken down in the body. Same with "natural" test boosters, sometimes they are simply oral steroids.

 

[oyaji poi]

It's not limited to herbal. No protein powder contains 100% of what the label says. Only a few contain within 90% of the label's claimed amount of protein.

Most contain around 70%. Many have less than 70% of the stated amount of protein. Some don't have any protein at all:

https://labdoor.com/rankings/protein


There is another website with test results done by some guy on Reddit a few years back that showed almost identical findings.

 

[martinez505]

dont suprize me

 

[KILL KILL]

I made this same thread like a week ago.

 

[Synapse]

KILL KILL made this exact same thread, it's still on the front page...

Anyway, this is what I wrote there:

You certainly don't trust the industry as a whole, anymore than you trust the fitness industry as a whole. The key is to find quality players in an otherwise shitty game.

Consumers really need to understand that supplements are ENTIRELY unregulated. Unless a supplement is flat out killing people, there is no requirement whatsoever for any testing. Companies can put anything they want in a bottle, slap a fabricated label on it, and it's all kosher. Caveat emptor, my friend.

Demand to see a certificate of analysis for any supplements you purchase, and make sure the COA date matches the batch date. If the company won't provide one, it means their product is untested, or the test revealed something unwanted. In either case, don't buy it.

This is the COA for my product:

 

[notablackbelt]

There is plenty of regulation, just no enforcement of that regulation. To say there are no rules or laws is incredibly ignorant. You of all people know a COA is as worthless as the paper it is printed out.

If a company is really small, has 1-2 people working for it, assume there is almost no quality control.

 

[Synapse]

There is plenty of regulation, just no enforcement of that regulation. To say there are no rules or laws is incredibly ignorant. You of all people know a COA is as worthless as the paper it is printed out.

If a company is really small, has 1-2 people working for it, assume there is almost no quality control.

I meant what I said, that there is no regulation. There is no one out there regulating anything that goes into your supplements. There's plenty of laws, but absolutely no one doing any actual regulating.

A COA isn't worthless by any means. Indeed, an independent COA, and production in a cGMP facility (rather than a person's basement) is about the most you can ask of a small scale operation. Third party testing may be the gold standard (NSF, etc), but those agencies are simply prohibitively expensive for all but the largest companies.

 

[notablackbelt]

I meant what I said, that there is no regulation. There is no one out there regulating anything that goes into your supplements. There's plenty of laws, but absolutely no one doing any actual regulating.

There are tons of rules on the books. The government doesn't do the best job implementing them. Choosing not to follow them doesn't eliminate the law on the books. Just as breaking into a business and stealing doesn't mean there isn't a law against doing it.

A COA isn't worthless by any means. Indeed, an independent COA, and production in a cGMP facility (rather than a person's basement) is about the most you can ask of a small scale operation. Third party testing may be the gold standard (NSF, etc), but those agencies are simply prohibitively expensive for all but the largest companies.

Producing inside a cgmp facility means nothing if you don't have SOP's on your end. You're saying it's ok for companies not to follow the rules because they aren't funded properly? They shouldn't be in the business to begin with if they can't follow the law. The most a consumer can ask for, is following the laws of the books, regardless of the rate at which they are enforced.

 

[Synapse]

There are tons of rules on the books. The government doesn't do the best job implementing them. Choosing not to follow them doesn't eliminate the law on the books. Just as breaking into a business and stealing doesn't mean there isn't a law against doing it.



Producing inside a cgmp facility means nothing if you don't have SOP's on your end. You're saying it's ok for companies not to follow the rules because they aren't funded properly? They shouldn't be in the business to begin with if they can't follow the law. The most a consumer can ask for, is following the laws of the books, regardless of the rate at which they are enforced.

In October 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was signed into law by President Clinton. Before this time, dietary supplements were subject to the same regulatory requirements as were other foods. This new law, which amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, created a new regulatory framework for the safety and labeling of dietary supplements.Under DSHEA, a firm is responsible for determining that the dietary supplements it manufactures or distributes are safe and that any representations or claims made about them are substantiated by adequate evidence to show that they are not false or misleading. This means that dietary supplements do not need approval from FDA before they are marketed. Except in the case of a new dietary ingredient, where pre-market review for safety data and other information is required by law, a firm does not have to provide FDA with the evidence it relies on to substantiate safety or effectiveness before or after it markets its products.Also, manufacturers need to register themselves pursuant to the Bioterrorism Act with FDA before producing or selling supplements. In June, 2007, FDA published comprehensive regulations for Current Good Manufacturing Practices for those who manufacture, package or hold dietary supplement products. These regulations focus on practices that ensure the identity, purity, quality, strength and composition of dietary supplements.

By law (DSHEA), the manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that its dietary supplement products are safe before they are marketed. Unlike drug products that must be proven safe and effective for their intended use before marketing, there are no provisions in the law for FDA to "approve" dietary supplements for safety or effectiveness before they reach the consumer. Under DSHEA, once the product is marketed, FDA has the responsibility for showing that a dietary supplement is "unsafe," before it can take action to restrict the product's use or removal from the marketplace. However, manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements must record, investigate and forward to FDA any reports they receive of serious adverse events associated with the use of their products that are reported to them directly. FDA is able to evaluate these reports and any other adverse event information reported directly to us by healthcare providers or consumers to identify early signals that a product may present safety risks to consumers. You can find more information on reporting adverse events associated with the use of dietary supplements at Dietary Supplements - Adverse Event Reporting.

No, except for rules described above that govern "new dietary ingredients," there is no provision under any law or regulation that FDA enforces that requires a firm to disclose to FDA or consumers the information they have about the safety or purported benefits of their dietary supplement products. Likewise, there is no prohibition against them making this information available either to FDA or to their customers. It is up to each firm to set its own policy on disclosure of such information. For more information, see claims that can be made for dietary supplements

You are way off base with the regulation placed on supplement companies. COA's, third party testing, etc. are entirely OPTIONAL, and are really just a selling point/a mark of integrity. They are in no way, shape, or form required. Supplements are not bound by the same laws as food - at least, not in the US. Having your supplement produced in a cGMP facility w/ independent COA is above and beyond compliance with the law, and any additional testing just offers additional layers of redundancy.

 

[notablackbelt]

what's the expiration date of your product?

 

[Synapse]

what's the expiration date of your product?

 

[notablackbelt]

You aren't required by law to put an expiration on a product. Once you do, you must have data showing where it came from. At time of expiration the product must test within 5% of label claim. You get this data from acceleration testing. This is a law. Keep thinking supplements aren't regulated. You are sharp on a lot of science, but compliance is my wheel house. Might want to step back on this one.

 

[Drunken Blindness]

Supps don't work.


I used to be a supp whore. Wanted to believe in them. Spent lots of money on them. Believed all the marketing and hype. And then I wised up.

Save yourself the money and understand that the market is all fraud. You are not getting 75% of what they say they are selling you and that other 25% doesn't do shit anyways. Your body isn't meant to ingest concentrated forms of that stuff and you just piss it out.


Its all junk. Even multi's are fraud. Your body doesn't ingest concentrated multi's and you just piss out all but 95+% and that bit you don't piss is only used if properly dosed and in the proper "form" which only the very expensive ones are. Save yourself the money and each a salad