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Walmart, Walgreens, GNC, Target Told to Remove “Fake Supplements” from Stores

2 min read

By Emily Lockhart

The New York state attorney is calling bogus on a variety of herbal supplements sold by four national retailers and demanding they be removed from store shelves immediately.

Investigations on top-selling herbal supplements retailed at Walmart, GNC, Walgreens, and Target uncovered a number of fake and potentially harmful ingredients. Instead of the expected herbs, the New York Times articles reveals that the supplements contained cheap fillers—including wheat, common house plants and powdered vegetables (i.e., radish, garlic, rice, soy, beans, peas, carrots, and legumes).

This past Monday, the New York State attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, issued a cease-and-desist letters to the four retailers, including the statement that, “Mislabeling, contamination and false advertising are illegal…[and] pose unacceptable risks to New York families—particularly those with allergies to hidden ingredients.”

The letter also demands that retailers specifically outline the procedures employed to authenticate ingredients used in the manufacturing of herbal supplements.

In response to what Dr. Pieter Cohen, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and expert on supplement safety, deems “an unbelievably devastating indictment of the [supplement] industry,” Walgreens stated it would immediately remove product from shelves across the nation.  However, GNC only stated that the retailer would “cooperate in appropriate ways…[but] stood behind the quality and purity of its store brand.” Walmart agreed to “take appropriate action” while there was no response at all from Target.

According to specifics from the New York Times article:

Source: WebMD

Emily Lockhart

Contributor

Emily Lockhart is a certified yoga instructor and personal trainer. She believes that being healthy is a lifestyle choice, not a punishment or temporary fix to attain a desired fitness or body image goal. Anna helps her clients take responsibility for their own health and wellness through her classes and articles on ActiveBeat.

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