Schneiderman tells retailers to halt herbal supplement sales

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has called on four major retailers to stop selling some store-brand herbal supplements after an investigation by his office found the products could not be proven in DNA testing to contain the labeled substance or had ingredients not listed on the labels.

Schneiderman in a press release said he sent letters Monday to GNC, Target, Walmart and Walgreens, calling on them to halt the sales of popular supplements that include echinacea, ginseng and St. John”™s wort. The companies were asked to provide detailed information relating to the production, processing and testing of herbal supplements sold at their stores and to explain quality control measures in place.

As part of an ongoing investigation of deceptive practices and advertising in the multibillion-dollar dietary supplements industry by the attorney general”™s office, a Clarkson University professor in upstate New York used DNA barcode technology to identify plant species listed on the products”™ labels. Investigators looked at three to four samples of six different store-brand herbal supplements purchased at stores across the state, including ones in Westchester County and Poughkeepsie.

Of the tested products, 79 percent either showed no DNA related to the labeled content or were contaminated with other plant material, according to investigators. In many cases, unlisted contaminants were the only plant material found in the samples or no botanical substances of any kind were found. Among the unlisted ingredients were rice, beans, pine, citrus, asparagus, primrose, wheat, houseplant, and wild carrot.

Of the four retailers, Walmart had the poorest results in product testing. Only 4 percent of the big-box giant”™s tested herbal products showed DNA from the plants listed on their labels, according to the attorney general”™s office.

“This investigation makes one thing abundantly clear: the old adage ”˜buyer beware”™ may be especially true for consumers of herbal supplements,” Schneiderman said in the press release. “The DNA test results seem to confirm long-standing questions about the herbal supplement industry. ”¦ At the end of the day, American corporations must step up to the plate and ensure that their customers are getting what they pay for, especially when it involves promises of good health.”

David Schardt, senior nutritionist of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the test results show “that this loosely regulated industry is urgently in need of reform. Until then, and perhaps even after then, consumers should stop wasting their money.” Schneiderman, he said, “has done what federal regulators should have done a long time ago.”

The attorney general”™s office cited a 2013 study from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which estimated there are about 65,000 dietary supplements on the market and more than 150 million Americans consume them.