Supplement quality, purity reports available on-line
Independent tests show shortfalls, contaminants
What once seemed a pipe dream has become reality: independent testing of vitamin and herb supplements to give consumers and health care professionals confidence that the over-the-counter products they use are safe.
Consumerlab.com offers "an excellent" review of a variety of products by brand name that will some day be considered the equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of approval for supplements, says Ralph Hall, MD, emeritus professor of medi-cine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
He advocates tighter government regulation of supplements sold over the counter, and says Con-sumerlab.com is a potent resource for patients and health care professionals alike. (See Complemen-tary Therapies in Chronic Care, August 2000, p. 17.)
Consumerlab.com president and founder Tod Cooperman, MD, calls his White Plains, NY-based company "an information company." The site is celebrating its first year of being on-line.
"We started this venture for all the reasons you might guess. It’s a terrible problem for consumers to sort through a huge number of products in terms of quality and what’s been shown to work clinically," says Cooperman.
Supplements are sent out to independent labs for testing for the presence of active ingredients, proper ingredients as labeled, and contaminants. About 25% of the products considered by Con-sumerlab.com are tested at the manufacturer’s request, he says. Testing is blinded, however, since laboratories are not informed of the brand names of the products they test.
Results of those permitted to carry the now-coveted Consumerlab flask emblem are posted on the Web site. Those that failed are not named, but anyone who wishes to pay from $750 to $900 per report can get all the data on all products tested. Most of the customers for the negative reports are supplement manufacturers, health food stores, and other retailers, says Cooperman.
Consumerlab says a supplement’s absence from the approved list does not mean it failed the testing, since there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of brand names available in some categories and only a handful are tested.
But Hall adds, "If it’s on the approved list, you know it’s good." Although Consumerlab.com has reported on only seven categories of supplements, the results have been impressive, he says:
• Asian and American ginseng. Of 22 brands tested, only nine passed review. Eight contained unacceptable levels of pesticides, including two that had levels more than 20 times the allowed amount. Two products contained lead above the acceptable level, and seven contained less than the stated concentration of the active ingredients, ginsenosides. Ginseng is generally used for increasing energy levels and vitality.
• Ginkgo biloba. Of 30 brands tested, 25% of those claiming they contained standardized extracts did not contain the stated concentration of ginkgo biloba extract, and among those, all had less than adequate levels of one or more terpene lactones and three also lacked adequate levels of flavone glycosides. Consumerlab recommends consumers look for supplements containing 24% flavone glycosides and 6% terpene lactones. Ginkgo biloba often is used to help increase cognitive function and has been used for the treatment of depression and asthma.
• Glucosamine and condroitin. One-half of the combined 25 products did not pass testing. Consumerlab speculates this is because of the high cost of condroitin. Glucosamine is used to slow the progression of osteoarthritis.
• SAMe. Of 13 brands of S-adenosyl-methionine (SAMe) tested, only seven were found to contain the labeled amounts. For one product, the amount of SAMe was undetectable. In addition to low levels of SAMe found in many products, labeling information on several products could lead consumers to expect twice the amount of SAMe in the product as was actually provided. SAMe is most often used in treating depression and osteoarthritis.
• Vitamin C. Ascorbic acid, required by the Food and Drug Administration to contain at least 100% of the stated amount, however, it is not routinely tested. Consumerlab tested 26 brands of vitamin C, including five designed for children. Four did not pass testing. One did not break down properly to deliver the vitamin for absorption and use by the body. Three others had insufficient vitamin C levels in the pills. Vitamin C is a vital nutrient found in many foods. It is an antioxidant that may help boost immune function, protect against cancer, age-related macular degeneration, and other chronic diseases.
• Saw palmetto. Twenty-one brands were tested, and four were found to contain less than the minimum amounts of specific fatty acids and/or sterols commonly found in saw palmetto products commonly used in clinical trials. Saw palmetto, widely used for treating symptoms of prostate enlargement, is standardized to 85% fatty acids and sterols.
• Creatine. Eleven of 13 brands tested passed. One of the two products that failed contained less than the stated levels of creatine and the other was contaminated with dicynadiamide. Creatine commonly is used to improve athletic performance.
Cooperman says his company intends to post new listings approximately every four to six weeks. Consumerlab.com will begin testing weight control supplements, tapping into a huge and diverse market which many believe is fraught with misrepresentation, sometime in 2001, he notes.
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