Are All Supplement Brands Trustworthy?
It’s estimated that more than 170 million Americans take dietary supplements. Scarily, companies do not have to prove that their products contain the ingredients on their labels or provide the strength and amount of nutrients stated on the label.
The FDA does require supplement manufacturers to adhere to Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP), which exist to ensure the quality and safety of products. Still, the FDA does not consistently enforce compliance.
What Are Dietary Supplements
According to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, a dietary supplement is a product taken by mouth that contains a ‘dietary ingredient’ intended to supplement the diet.
Dietary supplements come in many forms, including:
- Tablets
- Capsules
- Soft gels
- Gel caps
- Liquids
- Powders
Under the DSHEA, supplement manufacturers do not need to demonstrate safety or efficacy. Instead, the DSHEA purposefully minimizes oversight by the FDA and focuses on the industry’s value for the U.S. economy.
What To Look for When Buying Supplements
How can you tell your supplements and vitamins are good quality? It can be difficult because the FDA does not regulate supplements and vitamins. This lack of regulation means that the safety of a product is left up to the individual manufacturers.
With more than 85,000 supplement products in the U.S. marketplace today, it can be a little scary trusting every manufacturer to ensure their supplement or vitamin is safe.
The best way to ensure your supplements are trustworthy is to look for a third-party certified product.
Third-Party Certified
Most products that are certified by a third party are tested for one or more of the following:
- The supplement contains what is stated on the label and in the amounts listed
- Products use the same standards from batch to batch
- The supplement does not contain any harmful contaminants or any other drug contaminants
- The supplements don’t have any undisclosed ingredients
If you are an athlete, it may be helpful to look for supplements that are NSF certified for sport. This certification tells you that the product is free from more than the 270 substances that most major sports organizations ban or prohibit.
If a product claims it can “cure” a disease or has a “money-back guarantee,” be on guard. Any supplement that sounds too good to be true probably is. Be wary of supplements made outside of the United States, as many are not regulated, and some may have toxic ingredients.
Consequences of Unvetted Supplements
It’s estimated that about 23,000 people visit the emergency room yearly due to adverse reactions to supplements.
Although the FDA does not regulate the manufacturing and distribution of dietary supplements, it will issue class 1 drug recalls when there is a reasonable possibility that a product could cause serious adverse health consequences.
Unfortunately, research found that about half of all FDA class 1 drug recalls since 2004 have involved dietary supplements contaminated with pharmaceutical ingredients. The same research also discovered that most of the banned supplements were still on sale six months after being banned from the shelves and that at least 2/3 still contained a pharmaceutical substance!
Buy Supplements You Can Trust!
At WellRabbit, our supplements are vetted by real doctors who have dedicated themselves to ensuring that all our products contain the correct ingredients and ingredient amounts and that they are not adulterated by harmful contaminants.
Our supplements carry the MDRC badge, which means that the supplement you’re taking is medical doctor research certified. To learn more about this badge, please click here.
Visit our website today at https://wellrabbit.com/ to view all the products we carry.
Please click here for those who would like to obtain the MDRC badge.