FDA Finds Majority of Herbal Supplements at GNC, Walmart, Walgreens, And Target Don’t Contain What They Claim – Instead Cheap Fillers Like Wheat And Soy Powder
January 3, 2016
The lack of regulations in regards to herbal products helps Walmart, Walgreens, Target, and GNC to take full advantage and sell the public supplements that do not contain the herbs on the label.
The New York State attorney general’s office conducted an investigation into store-brand supplements at four national retailers — GNC, Target, Walgreens and Wal-Mart. The investigation found that these giant retail stores sell dietary supplements that do not contain the herbs specified on their labels. Moreover, many of these supplements included potential allergens which were not identified in the ingredients list.
Normally, all these stores deserved their cease-and-desist letters which requested them to stop selling these products. These letters, first reported today by the New York Times maintained that “Contamination, substitution and falsely labeling herbal products constitute deceptive business practices and, more importantly, present considerable health risks for consumers.”
We will now explain the findings of the investigations of these products in more details below:
Products by Walmart, Spring Valley brand:
Echinacea
No echinacea or plant material was found in the supplement
Saw Palmetto
Garlic and rice were found in the product
Some samples contained small amounts of saw palmetto
Ginseng
No ginseng detected
Instead, rice, dracaena, pine, wheat/grass and citrus were found in the supplement
Gingko Biloba
No gingko Biloba found in the dietary supplement
Instead, the product included rice, dracaena, mustard, wheat and radish
St. John’s Wort
No St. John’s Wort found
Detected garlic, rice and cassava
Garlic
One sample showed small amounts of garlic
The product included rice, pine, palm, dracaena and wheat
Products By Walgreens, Finest Nutrition brand
Echinacea
No echinacea detected
They found garlic, rice and daisy
Saw Palmetto
Contained saw palmetto
Ginseng
No ginseng found
Detected garlic and rice
Gingko Biloba
No gingko Biloba detected
Rice was found in the product
St. John’s Wort
No St. John’s Wort found
Detected garlic, rice and dracaena
Garlic
No garlic found
Detected palm, dracaena, wheat and rice
Products by GNC, Herbal Plus brand:
Echinacea
No echinacea found
rice found in some samples
Saw Palmetto
One sample contained the clear presence of palmetto
Other samples contained a variety of ingredients, including rice, asparagus, and primrose
Ginseng
No ginseng found
detected rice, dracaena, pine, wheat/grass and citrus
Gingko Biloba:
No gingko Biloba found
Did detect allium (garlic), rice, spruce and asparagus
St. John’s Wort
No St. John’s Wort found
detected allium (garlic), rice and dracaena (a tropical houseplant)
Garlic
Contained garlic
Products By Target, Up & Up brand
Echinacea
Most, but not all tests detected Echinacea
One test identified rice in the content
Saw Palmetto
Most tests detected saw palmetto
Some tests found no plant DNA
Valerian Root
No valerian root found
Detected asparagus, pea family, rice, wild carrot, allium, bean, and saw palmetto
Gingko Biloba
No gingko Biloba detected
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
Registered User
Publisher
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote