News about supplement contents-NYState attorney general's report

sandilee

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/sidebar-w...

I find this very upsetting, as someone who, naively, I suppose, believed that what major supplement manufacturer and retailer's sell is the real deal. Silly me.

I hope that this is a wake up call for the industry to clean up its act. While I've never used these store brands, if these companies are getting away with shortcuts and downright dishonestly, I'm much more skeptical of all of them.

Just this week when I ran out of my "Source" melatonin that has been a reliable sleep aid for years, I bought a brand at CVS that was "2 for 1" thinking I'd save a bit of money. " Source" 2.5 mg does work well for me. The cheaper Nature Made from CVS was 5mg- and it didn't do much at all. Today I went back to Whole Foods to buy my old (expensive) standby, and I guess I'll throw the other in the trash. It's not just the fact that it doesn't work as well, but if it's not pure melatonin, what the heck is in it?? So now I'm looking at my calcium, my magnesium, etc, etc...

Is anyone else rethinking their supplement cabinet after these latest revelations?

coraleliz

I've been aware of "discrepancies" in supplements for sometime. When I decided to try turmeric, I purchased a pound of the spice & put it in gelcaps myself. At least I knew I was actually getting turmeric. Sure, the dose wasn't precise, but I figured it wouldn't be if I purchased it ready-made.

DivineMrsM

The news is discouraging. I've been buying supplements online for several years at Vitacost. These include Turmeric, fish oil, a bone supplement with calcium. I did buy vitamin d at Walmart but will switch to one from Vitacost now. My husband takes lecithin for his skin rash, just bought at Walmart, and it seems to be effective.

Do you think mail order places like Vitacost are reputable? I'm not really surprised at the news that there are fraudulent supplements being sold at national chain stores. It seems if someone can get away with deceit and make a profit, they will. Sad, but seems to be almost the norm

AmyQ

Very interesting and great timing. I just purchased a 2 for 1 offer at wahlgreens of 5 mg of Melatonin and it kept me awake all night, even after upping my dose, so now I'm suspect if I received one of these fraudulent supplements. I'm going to dig into this further. Thanks for the information.

Amy

Manu14

It's always a challenge to find trustworthy sources be it for vitamins/supplements or foods. I don't think we can ever put 100% blind trust in any company; but I have spent some time researching vitamin and supplement companies. There are three companies that I try to buy all my products from: Country Life; Carlson; and Solaray.

All three are GMP certified, at least. This in an FDA enforced Good Manufacturing Practice certificate which a surprising number of companies don't have. Carlson is manufactured in Illinois; Country Life has 97% of its products manufactured in U.S. and from what I can find out, Solaray is U.S. manufactured also. You can go to any of their websites and read more, but I like that Country Life is No GMOs, gluten free, etc.

I'm sure there are other good brands too, but after awhile I get research burnout and figure I've identified at least a few I feel comfortable with.

leggo

Like anything else, you usually get what you pay for. If it's not NSF or USP certified (or GMP mentioned above), it's probably questionable.