The convenience of fast food has become the gift and the curse of the working class over the years. While it provides quick, filling meals for those with no time to cook, it lacks the necessary nutrients every working adult needs to function effectively in their lives. As such, many of the working-class people today have become very reliant on supplements to help them improve their diets. This exposes them to fake dietary supplements. Even for those who don’t indulge in fast food, supplements are important for maintaining general health and well-being. A simple search for a specific supplement will return countless websites and blogs that swear by the product and its health benefits.

Recently, there have been a lot of news articles about the distribution of counterfeit supplements through four major retailers in the United States. These supplements are said to contain fillers with other herbs and ingredients not stated on the product packaging. This poses a great risk to consumers: these supplements may contain ingredients not listed on the packaging and can cause dangerous allergic reactions. For example, a “gluten-free” supplement that actually contains wheat ingredients could be life-threatening if a consumer has a very severe reaction to gluten.

The dangers of purchasing fake supplements:

• You waste money and resources on a product that will not give the desired result
• They may contain inaccurate levels of the active ingredients in the supplement, which may pose a risk to you
• You could have a life-threatening allergic reaction to one of the ingredients not listed on the bottle
• The unlisted ingredients may also interact with other medications you may be taking, which can cause more complex health issues

While there are limited resources in detecting fake supplements at the consumer level, here are some points to keep in mind when trying to verify these supplements without product verification technology.

How to detect these fake dietary supplements:

• The dietary supplement claims to be a good alternative to FDA approved drugs
• The products are strongly promoted via email but are hardly available in stores (Be wary even in trusted stores)
• The manufacturer makes claims that may seem too good to be true
• There are obvious typos, poor quality packaging, or the odor is different

It is important that consumers become more aware of issues associated with purchasing fake dietary supplements and the ways to help detect fake supplements.

If you are a pharmaceutical company, a nutritional supplement company, dietary supplement manufacturer facing these counterfeit issues, Sproxil can help you avoid these issues with supply chain protection and consumer-facing services. Our verification system helps the company build trust with its consumers by assuring them of the genuineness of the product being sold to them. Visit www.sproxil.com for more information.

Do you purchase dietary supplements online or in-store? Have you been a victim of fake dietary supplements recently? Leave a comment below and tell us about it.