The Truth About Supplement Quality and Effectiveness

Did you know the FDA estimates there are around 100,000 supplements on the market currently? That is up 20,000 from several years ago and up from 4,000 in 1994. While the FDA does "regulate" the supplement industry, it is not anything like the regulations on over-the-counter drugs or prescriptions. The FDA doesn't regulate the efficacy of supplements because it doesn't recognize that supplements actually produce any outcomes.

The Truth About Supplements

Here is the truth about supplement quality and effectiveness.

Supplements are regulated as "food," and so there are no pre-market approvals for already approved ingredients that you find in your supplements. So, unless the supplement causes harm once it's on the market, the FDA doesn't bother the company. As long as supplement companies are compliant with the law, there is no one checking to make sure the company is testing or regulating its products. The supplement industry is primarily self-regulated by independent organizations, including the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the American Botanical Council, and the Natural Products Association. However, the average consumer doesn't know any of this.

Industry Compliance: cGMPs

You have probably seen or heard about supplement companies adhering to cGMPs, but what does it mean? Current Good Manufacturing Procedures (cGMPs) provide a framework of controls that all dietary supplement manufacturers must comply with and entail:

• the design and construction of physical plants

• maintenance & cleaning procedures

• proper manufacturing operations

• quality control procedures

• raw material identification

• testing of incoming, in-process, and final product (to meet label claim at the time of expiration)

• handling consumer complaints

• maintaining records

• random audits

The biggest compliance issues supplement companies have are as follows:

• Ingredient Safety (heavy metals)

• Adulterated products (contaminants, non-approved dietary ingredients

• Quantity of ingredients

• Failure to test products

• Failure to keep adequate records of testing and efficacy

Here are some numbers for you. Between 2018 and 2019, 52% of American supplement companies were found non-compliant. 42% of international companies were also found non-compliant. These are staggering numbers.

What Do You Do?

What now? Stop buying supplements from untrustworthy sources. Places like Amazon and your local grocery store don't carry the best quality supplements. Please stop buying what's cheap, and for Pete's sake, stop buying gummies.

Buy supplements from companies that care. Companies that have their products independently tested by a third party, that adhere to cGMPs, and are known for quality. You can find such supplements at Fullscript. Check it out and use my dispensary link for 15% off. Click here.

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Do you trust supplements? Not all supplement companies are created equal.