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The supplement industry is a minefield, and the recent reports detailing unsavory practices used by some major manufacturers to dupe everyday customers is evidence of that. From the underdosed, to the not-dosed-at-all, mercury tainted, to the artificial sweetener laden concoctions that plague store shelves, the average consumer doesn’t stand a chance.
Luckily, despite the unregulated nature of the supplement industry, there are some noble groups and organizations that take the side of the naive consumer and strive for higher standards — but not all supplement manufacturers hold themselves up to these principles.
Understanding the common scams and pitfalls of the supplement industry will tell us what to look for when assessing the quality of our supplements. From there, we can look to the various governing bodies and testing procedures that serve as verification of a quality product.
With proper knowledge and careful attention to detail, we can demystify supplement shopping and pinpoint the highest quality supplements, thus saving you wasted money and helping you get what you’re actually paying for!
The Label
The simplest and most obvious way to gauge the quality of your supplements is to pay close attention to the label. This is where you will find most of the information that you need to determine whether your favorite brand is top notch or sub par. That being said, the label is a dangerous place – riddled with marketing gimmicks and bad science, it takes a sharp eye and an even sharper mind to decipher the details and extract the information needed to assess the quality of a supplement.
Appearance
The first place we must look for signs of a quality supp, is the label as a whole. Does it look like someone printed it on their home printer from sticker paper they got from the stationery store, or does it actually look like it was designed and printed by a legitimate manufacturer? Things like misspellings and poorly printed labels should be a huge red flag. If a company can’t even put the effort forth to make a decent label, then how can you expect them to perform the complicated task of manufacturing sensitive chemical compounds? This may seem too obvious to mention, but given the myriad of no name brands and grey market supplements out there, it is a more common problem than you might expect.
Proprietary Blends
Anyone who has read more than a label or two knows about proprietary blends — the bane of meticulous bodybuilders the world over.
Oftentimes, manufacturers use proprietary blends to prevent competitors from duplicating their formulations. In a deeply competitive market, this makes sense. The problem is that sometimes manufacturers will use this as a cloak to conceal the true composition of a supplement.
For example, a manufacturer can get away with claiming that their product contains some exotic or expensive compound without actually having to incorporate an active dose. This is why it is important to choose products that detail their contents, so you can be sure that you are getting an active dose and not an empty promise.
In the rare case that you find yourself unable to avoid a proprietary blend, knowing the active dose of all the ingredients on the label may help you decipher what is behind the curtain.
For example, if a product claims two ingredients, each of which have an active dose of 3000mg, but you find that the proprietary blend is a total of 500mg, then you can be damn sure that there is NO WAY the product is effective. Although a crude method that takes a considerable amount of knowledge to utilize, for the sake of completeness it is worth mentioning for those of you with more advanced supplement knowledge.
Current Good Manufacturing Practices
Going beyond appearances, we can begin to look for seals, stamps, and statements that may give clues to the quality of the product — CMGP being the most fundamental of the bunch. Adhering to the current good manufacturing practices for dietary supplements (CGMP) means that the company meets the minimum requirements for health and safety.
The CGMP are a set of general guidelines enforced by the FDA that ensure food supplements are high quality and do not pose a risk to the consumer. The guidelines cover topics ranging from preparation and manufacture, to handling and storage. Although there is no official seal for companies who follow these guidelines, most manufacturers that abide by these rules will display some text or graphic on their label that attests to the fact.
That being said, we must note that the CGMP are still merely recommendations. The FDA does not approve or certify facilities, they merely provide these guidelines to the public — it is up to the manufacturer to decide whether they will properly adhere to these rules or not. Therefore, it is important to the label to make sure your brand of choice abides by these wholesome rules.
There has been quite a stir in the media lately regarding the topic of protein spiking — and with the laundry list of major manufacturers accused of performing these uncouth practices, it would be wise for us, as consumers, to carefully inspect the ingredients in our supplements.
So what is protein spiking?
To understand what protein spiking is, we need to briefly discuss some of the testing procedures used to verify the content of protein powders. One of the most frequently used methods for verifying label claims, involves quantifying the amount of nitrogen in a dietary supplement. Since protein is the only macronutrient that contains nitrogen (carbs and fat do not), determining the amount of nitrogen in a product provides an indirect way of measuring its protein content.
The problem is that although protein is the only macronutrient that contains nitrogen, it is not the only chemical that does. Various amino acids and other chemical compounds contain high amounts of nitrogen and can be used to fool tests for nitrogen content.
But why would a company want to fool these tests?
Protein powders are rarely sold for much more than the cost of production, which leaves small profits in the pockets of the manufacturer. In an attempt to maximize margins, some unsavory supplement manufacturers “spike” their protein powders with cheaper nitrogenous substances in order to make bold label claims and still pass verification tests.
For example, arginine can provide up to three times as much nitrogen as whey protein at less than half the price.[3] Adding these ingredients ensures that the products pass the required tests for label claims without actually containing the ingredients described on the label. What this leaves us with, is low quality protein powders masquerading as better quality supplements.
So now that we know what protein spiking is, how can we be sure we aren’t getting duped at the supplement store?
In protein powders that are spiked, you will often find ingredients that aren’t part of the actual product, flavoring, or additives listed on the label.
For example, things like taurine and creatine appearing in the ingredients should be a warning sign that your product may be spiked. Unless you are specifically buying a product that contains taurine, creatine, and / or some other amino acid, you should not be seeing these ingredients on a label(*).
(* glycine is sometimes used in small quantities to improve the mouthfeel of a protein powder, so finding this ingredient on your label may not necessarily mean that your product is spiked.[3]).
The best case scenario is to find a protein powder that prominently displays the amino acid content of the product on the label, this way you can can know exactly what is in it. Going even further, this information can be cross-referenced with scientific data regarding the amino acid composition of various protein sources, this will help to verify the contents of the product.
Another way to ensure that your products are not spiked is to look for an NSF seal of approval.
NSF International (not to be confused with the National Science Foundation) is an independent organization that establishes public health standards and provides certification programs for a variety of products.
As part of their certification of dietary supplements – in addition to a long list of rigorous standards – they do not allow manufacturers to claim free-form amino acids as part of the protein content on the nutrition label.
As such, when buying an NSF certified product, you can be sure that the protein in the product comes from real protein and not some nitrogenous filler.
Despite all this, there are yet still ways to fool consumers into buying subpar products! Even reading the label may not be enough — especially in the case of other dietary supplements, such as herbs and ancillaries.
In addition to the recent developments regarding protein spiking, some major manufacturers have also been getting heat for the quality of their herbal supplements. The New York Times wellness blog recently wrote a piece chronicling the debacle between the New York State attorney general’s office, and a couple major national supplement retailers.
It turns out, that after running their independent tests, the authorities found that MOST of the products contained no active ingredients at all! Instead, they were filled with cheap vegetable powders — some that could even cause allergic reactions in users! Talk about reckless and thinking only of your wallet…
Needless to say, this ordeal sheds light on the level of deception that plagues the supplement industry – and it is the main reason why in order to achieve total confidence in a product, we must look to testing procedures that quantify both quality and purity.
Third Party Testing
Supplement manufacturers have the ability to voluntarily subject their products to third-party testing. Using a variety of methods, the third-party can determine the contents and quality of the product in question.
If the product passes the test, the supplement manufacturer can choose to publicly display the results of the third-party test if they wish. Additionally, the manufacturers can choose to pull the batch from production and prevent a low quality product from making it onto store shelves.
That being said, it is important to note that testing methods can vary in accuracy and usefulness.
As we mentioned earlier, some tests, like the nitrogen test, are susceptible to errors and “can be beaten”. That is why it is not only important to verify that your supplements are third-party tested, but to verify that the testing procedures used are highly critical and accurate.
The specifics of the tests go beyond the scope of this article, and the testing procedures used often depend on the compound in question — but, for reference, some common testing procedures in the supplement industry if you wish to delve deeper include:
Another thing worth mentioning is that that when it comes to testing procedures, high performance liquid chromatography is the gold standard.
Using this method, the exact chemical composition of the supplement being tested can be accurately determined. The only drawback is, as you can imagine, the price. With the cost of testing often running in the thousands, not many manufacturers will choose to partake in this option.
When it comes to third-party testing, there is no gold standard however as far as a testing company goes. Your analysis must be case by case, and you must look for the most reputable third-party tester for that specific product.
For example, a fish oil product may not be subject to the same testing procedures and standards as a protein powder — as such, there are different independent organizations that provide testing and standards for different supplements — notable examples being the International Fish Oil Standards and the NSF.
First Party Testing
Due to the wide variety of supplements a particular manufacturer may carry, and the high cost of third party testing, some manufacturers may choose to perform testing in-house. The same sort of procedural standards that apply to third-party testing also apply here — so tests like HPLC are still the high mark you should be looking for.
Although first party test results can be concealed, or even faked by a manufacturer, this is near certain to be a rare occurrence — logic suggests that a supplement manufacturer that goes through the trouble of testing all of their products is very likely to be one that genuinely cares about the quality of their supplements, more than just monetary gains.
International Considerations
We should briefly mention that the topics discussed in this article are largely geared towards the US domestic market. Many other nations, for example some European countries, have stricter regulations and governing bodies that oversee their domestic supplement industry. As a result, citizens of these nations are not subject to many of the same risks as US consumers.
That being said, there are some nations that go the other way, such as china and other eastern countries — with an even less regulated market, the dangers of chemical contamination and poor sanitation are not uncommon in these places. For those of you that reside outside of the states, many of the aforementioned guidelines still apply – but you should also be conscious of the nature of the industry in your specific locality.
The Takeaway
The takeaway here is that the supplement industry is riddled with deception — stepping into a supplement store and expecting the manufacturer or an employee to sell you on a specific product may leave you getting less than you bargained for. Stay informed and be mindful of the common pitfalls of the industry.
For convenience, here is a checklist to keep handy the next time you go shopping.
Not just a waste of money, low quality supplements can be downright dangerous, hence why it is crucial to stay alert and informed about your supps.
References:
[1] https://blog.priceplow.com/protein-scam-amino-acid-spiking
[2] http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=111&showFR=1
[3] http://www.nsf.org/newsroom_pdf/protein_spiking_pulse.pdf
[4] http://www.nsf.org/services/by-industry/dietary-supplements/
[5] http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/sidebar-whats-in-those-supplements/?_r=0