Tainted Supplements vs. the FDA – Dr. Oz series

A warning from a self-regulated supplement company that I trust - Emerson Ecologics - www.emersonecologics.com.

"On January 18th, Tainted Supplements: Where do they come from? aired on Dr. Oz show as part of his Tainted Supplements vs. the FDA series. As a part of this story, members of Dr. Oz staff went undercover and discovered that five out of five weight- loss supplements that they bought tested positive for sibutramine, an ingredient in prescription obesity drugs that was banned because it caused heart attacks, strokes and seizures. In addition, one of the five tested positive for the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (Cipro). The Dr. Oz show reviewed these findings and, with guests Jim Kababick of Flora Labs and Peter Cohen of Harvard Medical School, raised some significant concern regarding spiked dietary supplements.

The conclusion of the show was that there is a large, unscrupulous and profitable part of the “dietary supplement industry” that traffics in such products, making extravagant claims to consumers, such as promising rapid weight loss, without regard to, or interest in, public health or safety. FDA regulation While the issue of spiked and therefore adulterated dietary supplements is a serious one that merits attention, it is important to keep this issue in perspective.

First, in contrast to the belief held by many, dietary supplements are federally regulated under 21 CFR part 111. These regulations prohibit product adulteration. While the FDA enforces 21 CFR Part 111 and the dietary supplement industry has several ways in which they self-regulate, there are still some ‘bad actors’ that do not follow the regulations and have escaped federal and industry scrutiny. This situation exists in part due to insufficient resources on the part of the FDA to regularly inspect all dietary supplement manufacturers. Of note, the FDA has stepped up its auditing activities over the past couple of years and has successfully identified several of these unscrupulous manufacturers. It is also true that supplements do not require pre-market approval, but rather are regulated once they are in the marketplace.

At that point, the FDA’s job is to identify and remove dangerous products from the market. Make sure you choose supplement brands that have safety checks in place in order to reduce the likelihood of carrying products spiked with pharmaceutical drugs. Safeguards include: 1. Staying current with industry adulterants and adulterated products and avoiding carrying these high risk products. 2. Reviewing all labels of new products for any suspicious or exaggerated claims or ingredients. This is particularly true for products in the categories of weight loss, muscle building and sexual enhancement. 3. Requireing certificates of analysis for products  identified as being at risk for containing spiked ingredients."

Please look in to your products...you only have one body. Treat it well!

Dr. M