Mass Marketing Scams

One of GNLD's foremost concerns is the safety and effectiveness of their products. They are one of the few supplement companies which does careful toxicological evaluation of both raw materials and finished products.

The FDA is warning consumers that many mass marketed products being sold can be outright dangerous. Usually these products are coming into the country from Asia.

For example, many weight loss products were found to contain sibutramine, the appetite suppessant in Meridia, a popular pharmaceutical whose manufacturer voluntarily removed it from the American market last year after a research study reported that it could increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Male sexual enhancement supplements are often found to contain sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient in Viagra, or analogues of the drug which have never been tested for safety in humans. These "supplements" sometimes contain up to seven times the recommended dose."

Body building products are a third area of frequently contaminated products. Many body building "supplements" contain dangerous synthetic steroids.

In the past 3 years the FDA has issued warnings about over 300 adulterated supplements with such names as Man Up Now, Passion Coffee, Slim Waistline, and 7 Day Herbal Slim. Despite the warnings and seizures of more than a million dollars worth of these supplements the FDA observes that they are facing a tidal wave of these products and are removing only a tiny fraction of the adulterated products entering the market from out of the country.

Reference:

Singer, Natasha, "Spiked supplements reach U.S. shelves, The Sacramento Bee, August 28, 2011, A12.