There is no strict regulation related to herbal products and retail corporations like GNC, Walgreens, and Walmart. They are taking advantage of this situation by selling herbal supplements that don’t include the ingredients stated on their labels.
The NY State attorney general’s office started to research and thorough investigation focused on supplements sold in the following retailers – Walmart, Target, GNC, and Walgreens.
The results of the investigation were shocking. These popular retail stores offer dietary herbal supplements that don’t include the herbs listed on the labels. What is even worse is that the majority of these supplements come with latent allergens that can’t be found on the label.
Obviously, these retailers have received letters in which they were urged to pull all the misleading products from their shelves.
The letters that were revealed in the New York Times included a part in which the retailers are warned that modification, contamination, and incorrectly labeling of their herbal supplements are viewed as a deceptive business practice and what is more important, this practice presents a significant health risk for customers.
The following is an explanation of some of the findings that come as a result of the aforementioned investigation:
Spring Valley Brand – Products Offered by Walmart:
Saw Palmetto
Certain products had only small quantities of saw palmettoBoth rice and garlic were part of this product
Echinacea
There were no traces of Echinacea or any plant material in the supplement
Gingko Biloba
There was no presence of Ginkgo Biloba in the supplementOn the other hand, the produced had dracaena, rice, radish, wheat, and mustard
Ginseng
There was no ginseng present in this productHowever, the supplement included citrus, dracaena, pine, rice, and wheatgrass.
Garlic
Only one sample had small quantities of garlicThe supplement had wheat, dracaena, pine, rice, and palm.
St. John’s Wort
There are no traces of St. John’s WortThe supplement included rice, garlic, and cassava.
Finest Nutrition Brand, Products Offered by Walgreens:
Saw Palmetto
The supplement included saw palmetto
Echinacea
There were no traces of EchinaceaOn the other hand, there were rice, garlic, and daisy in this product.
Gingko Biloba
There was no Gingko Biloba present in this supplementInstead, the investigation found rice.
Ginseng
Ginseng was not present in this productThey have found rice and garlic
Garlic
No garlic foundTraces of dracaena, rice, palm, and wheat detected
St. John’s Wort
No traces of St. John’s Wort in this productThe investigators found rice, garlic, and dracaena
Herbal Plus Brand, Products Offered by GNC:
Saw Palmetto
Only one sample had palmetto in it.Most of the samples included different ingredients like asparagus, rice, and primrose.
Echinacea
There was no presence of Echinacea detectedOn the other hand, they’ve found rice in some of the samples.
Gingko Biloba
The investigation didn’t find any Gingko BilobaThey have found spruce, garlic, asparagus, and rice.
Ginseng
No ginseng found among samplesDid detect dracaena, rice, citrus, wheatgrass, and pine.
Garlic
The product contained garlic.
St. John’s Wort
There was no presence of St. John’s WortThe product contained rice, garlic, and dracaena.
Up & Up Brand, Products Offered by Target
Saw Palmetto
The majority of tests have shown a clear presence of saw palmettoSome of these tests have shown that there is no plant DNA.
Echinacea
The majority of tests (even though not all of them) confirmed the presence of EchinaceaOnly one test has shown the presence of rice.
Gingko Biloba
There were no traces of Gingko Biloba in the product.The test detected rice, garlic, and French bean.
Valerian Root
Valerian Root was not present in the productThe investigation found rice, peas, asparagus, saw palmetto, bean, allium, and wild carrot.
Garlic
The product included garlicOne of the tests found that the product doesn’t include plant DNA.
St. John’s Wort
There were no traces of St. John’s WortOn the other hand, the product contained rice, garlic, and dracaena.
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