The lack of regulations in regards to herbal products helps Walmart, Walgreens, Target, and GNC to take full advantage and sell the public supplements that do not contain the herbs on the label.
The New York State attorney general’s office conducted an investigation into store-brand supplements at four national retailers — GNC, Target, Walgreens and Wal-Mart. The investigation found that these giant retail stores sell dietary supplements that do not contain the herbs specified on their labels. Moreover, many of these supplements included potential allergens which were not identified in the ingredients list.
Normally, all these stores deserved their cease-and-desist letters which requested them to stop selling these products. These letters, first reported today by the New York Times maintained that “Contamination, substitution and falsely labeling herbal products constitute deceptive business practices and, more importantly, present considerable health risks for consumers.”
We will now explain the findings of the investigations of these products in more details below:
Products by Walmart, Spring Valley brand:
Echinacea
- No echinacea or plant material was found in the supplement
Saw Palmetto
- Garlic and rice were found in the product
- Some samples contained small amounts of saw palmetto
Ginseng
- No ginseng detected
- Instead, rice, dracaena, pine, wheat/grass and citrus were found in the supplement
Gingko Biloba
- No gingko Biloba found in the dietary supplement
- Instead, the product included rice, dracaena, mustard, wheat and radish
St. John’s Wort
- No St. John’s Wort found
- Detected garlic, rice and cassava
Garlic
- One sample showed small amounts of garlic
- The product included rice, pine, palm, dracaena and wheat
Products By Walgreens, Finest Nutrition brand
Echinacea
- No echinacea detected
- They found garlic, rice and daisy
Saw Palmetto
- Contained saw palmetto
Ginseng
- No ginseng found
- Detected garlic and rice
Gingko Biloba
- No gingko Biloba detected
- Rice was found in the product
St. John’s Wort
- No St. John’s Wort found
- Detected garlic, rice and dracaena
Garlic
- No garlic found
- Detected palm, dracaena, wheat and rice
Products by GNC, Herbal Plus brand:
Echinacea
- No echinacea found
- rice found in some samples
Saw Palmetto
- One sample contained the clear presence of palmetto
- Other samples contained a variety of ingredients, including rice, asparagus, and primrose
Ginseng
- No ginseng found
- detected rice, dracaena, pine, wheat/grass and citrus
Gingko Biloba:
- No gingko Biloba found
- Did detect allium (garlic), rice, spruce and asparagus
St. John’s Wort
- No St. John’s Wort found
- detected allium (garlic), rice and dracaena (a tropical houseplant)
Garlic
- Contained garlic
Products By Target, Up & Up brand
Echinacea
- Most, but not all tests detected Echinacea
- One test identified rice in the content
Saw Palmetto
- Most tests detected saw palmetto
- Some tests found no plant DNA
Valerian Root
- No valerian root found
- Detected asparagus, pea family, rice, wild carrot, allium, bean, and saw palmetto
Gingko Biloba
- No gingko Biloba detected
- Found garlic, rice and mung/French bean
St. John’s Wort
- No St. John’s Wort found
- Found garlic, rice and dracaena (houseplant)
Garlic
- Contained garlic
- One test identified no DNA.
