Major Retailers Accused of Selling Fraudulent Supplements

Do you take herbal supplements regularly? If yes, you might not be getting what you’ve paid for…

Americans spend an estimated $5 billion each year on questionable herbal supplements that promise everything from boosting mental clarity and increasing brain power to curing Ebola. Consumers can usually tell when a product seems fishy, but fraudulent labeling can definitely get the best of us.

The New York State Attorney General is demanding that four major retailers – GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart – pull some of their private label herbal supplements from their shelves after DNA tests found that four out of five of their products did not contain any of the herbs on their labels. Instead, the tests discovered that the so-called “herbal” pills often contained cheap fillers such as powdered rice, asparagus and even houseplants. In some cases, the products that were tested contained hazardous ingredients that could be dangerous to those with allergies.

Supplements at Walmart, which were advertised to contain Ginkgo biloba, thought to be a memory booster, did not appear to contain any of said substance. Instead, they contained fillers like powdered radish and wheat – a potential danger for those who are sensitive to gluten. At Walgreens, the FDA found that the ginseng pills were basically powdered rice and garlic.

It’s really baffling how there are so many fraudulent supplement products being sold at major retailers. How did this happen? Who is in charge of regulation? The truth of the matter is that supplements are exempt from the strict regulations that the FDA imposes on prescription medications. Nonetheless, the FDA requires that manufacturers and retailers label all ingredients correctly. The highly popular supplements currently sold at those four major retailers are in clear violation of these requirements.

The responses from the retailers have been varied. The New York Times reports that Walgreens plans to pull the problematic supplements from all stores nationwide as a precautionary measure while it further investigates the matter. GNC says it will cooperate with the Attorney General’s office, but that it stands behind the quality of its private label products. Meanwhile, Walmart says that it will reach out to its suppliers and “take appropriate action,” because it wants customers “to have complete trust in [their] products.” But Walmart has no plans to remove the fraudulent products from its shelves at this time.

Here’s a roundup of all the products that were tested by the Attorney General, along with the test results described in the cease-and-desist letters that were sent to the four retailers.

At GNC (Herbal Plus Brand): Gingko Biloba: No Gingko biloba found Did detect allium (garlic), rice, spruce and asparagus St. John’s Wort No St. John’s wort found Did detect allium (garlic), rice and dracaena (a tropical houseplant) Ginseng No ginseng found Did detect rice, dracaena, pine, wheat/grass and citrus Garlic Contained garlic Echinacea No echinacea found Did detect rice in some samples Saw Palmetto One sample contained the clear presence of palmetto Other samples contained a variety of ingredients, including asparagus, rice and primrose

At Target (Up & Up Brand): Gingko Biloba No Gingko biloba found Found garlic, rice and mung/French bean St. John’s Wort No St. John’s wort found Found garlic, rice and dracaena (houseplant) Garlic Contained garlic One test identified no DNA Echinacea Most but not all tests detected echinacea One test identified rice Saw Palmetto Most tests detected saw palmetto Some tests found no plant DNA Valerian Root No valerian root found Found allium, bean, asparagus, pea family, rice, wild carrot and saw palmetto

At Walgreens, (Finest Nutrition Brand): Gingko Biloba No Gingko biloba found Did detect rice St. John’s Wort No St. John’s wort found Detected garlic, rice and dracaena Ginseng No ginseng found Detected garlic and rice Garlic No garlic found Detected palm, dracaena, wheat and rice Echinacea No echinacea found Identified garlic, rice and daisy Saw Palmetto Contained saw palmetto

At Walmart (Spring Valley Brand): Gingko Biloba No Gingko biloba found Found rice, dracaena, mustard, wheat and radish St. John’s Wort No St. John’s wort found Detected garlic, rice and cassava Ginseng No ginseng found Found rice, dracaena, pine, wheat/grass and citrus Garlic One sample showed small amounts of garlic Found rice, pine, palm, dracaena and wheat Echinacea No echinacea or plant material found Saw Palmetto Some samples contained small amounts of saw palmetto Also found garlic and rice