Here’s some news that apparently comes as a surprise to many consumers: it is not a good idea to buy pills marketed as “natural” aphrodisiacs or “herbal Viagra.” While the famed erectile dysfunction treatment won’t be available as a generic medication for a few years yet in the United States, that doesn’t stop companies from making analogues to it and selling it as “natural” supplements. [More]
herbal supplements
GNC Agrees To DNA, Allergen Testing Of Herbal Supplements
By 3.30.15
Earlier this year, New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent cease-and-desist letters to several major retailers, including Target, Walgreens, and GNC, after genetic testing of store-brand herbal supplements found that many of these products did not contain the herbal ingredients they purported to include, and that some contained potentially dangerous allergens. Today, GNC and Schneiderman announced an agreement that will apply stricter testing standards — more rigorous than those required by the federal government — to the company’s supplements. [More]
NY Asks Stores To Halt Herbal Supplements After Tests Show Advertised Herbs Not Present
By 2.3.15
When you buy an herbal supplement that says “echinacea” or “ginko boloba” on the label, you may expect that it contains some additional ingredients beyond the advertised herbs, but you should be confident that those herbs are present. However, DNA tests commissioned by the New York state Attorney General found evidence that many herbal products may not contain what they advertise. [More]
Testing Reveals Weeds And Rice Fillers Where The Herbs Should Be In Herbal Supplements
By 11.4.13
It’s already a gamble whether herbal supplements will boost your brainpower or ramp up your immune system, but that’s not all you’re rolling the dice on with many pills marketed as “herbal” remedies. Researchers used DNA tests to put herbal supplements through their paces, and found that a third of the 44 bottles were often diluted with or used fillers like soybean, wheat, rice and powdered weeds to totally replace the herbs touted on packaging. [More]
Study: Herbal Supplements Turn Kids Into Crack Fiends
By 3.24.06
Back when I was in high school, there was only one kind of ‘herbal supplement’: the magic jay bone. Quizzing me and my horde of giggling compatriots in the back of senile Mrs. Johnson’s fourth period Remedial English class, any researcher who cared to have asked would have found that the ratio of herbal supplement takers to illegal drug users was one to one.
