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2003/10/15, 01:44 PM
It’s an unfortunate reality about deceit in the supplement industry, from something as simple as number manipulation to the inclusion of illegal products. It’s a facet of this business that is truly the black eye of the industry. To cite only a VERY few instances:
Hire fitness models to gain a ton of weight, only to drop it rapidly, in order to show these incredible before and after photos, and attribute it ALL to product X.
Taking a candy bar that has extra protein and claiming only 10g of sugar, when in actuality, it’s closer to 30g. Or another company asserting that their protein powder has 25g of protein per serving, when, in actuality, it only has 12 or 15.
State that a particular whey protein powder will help consumers gain a certain number of pounds within a few weeks. Then add to that protein (and not list it on the label) a certain amount of creatine so that a user of the product will gain a few pounds in a few weeks – but of water weight.
Declaring that a certain weight loss product will make consumers lose X number of pounds in X number of weeks. And, of course, it will, since included in the product is a diuretic; again, not listed on the label.
Now MuscleTech joins in, allegedly adding prohormones to their protein powder and not claiming it on the label.
And we all know of the liquid creatine products that show no creatine at all in lab analysis; or correlation of product results to steroids, when we know only steroids give steroid-like results.
And the grand daddy of them all: a product that came out in the early 90s who’s first batch took the world by storm, with fantastic claims of great muscle gains and fat loss. And indeed it did, in large part to the small amount of the very illegal compound Clenbuterol.
The moral and ethical concerns regarding such practices are numerous. Except for the last example, the added compounds are legal, but that is not the issue. What about safety? What would happen if someone had an anaphylactic reaction to a compound that was not listed on the label? What about drug tested athletes or public servants whose careers will be ruined with the consumption of such products? What about straight out honesty?
The end result of all of this is comes down to one great, final conclusion: waving a huge, red flag in front of the FDA. They have wanted to regulate the supplement industry for many, many years, and all this does is give the federal government a reason to bring it up once again. Where does that leave the rest of us? If the FDA is successful in regulating supplements, they will require the same production standards as pharmaceutical companies, and there is not a single supplement company in existence that has the capital to rapidly transform to such a level of manufacturing. As these companies go out of business, so will the rest of the industry: retail outlets, distributors, etc. The only way anyone will be able to get supplements is by going to a doctor, getting a prescription, and going to your local pharmacy to shell out $300 for 3 lbs of whey; assuming that the doctor will even give you the prescription in the first place.
As most of you know, I’ve been in the industry for many years, and in many capacities. This industry used to be very well self regulated, but, as what happens to so many businesses, greed (which always exists) out ran morality. Since we are an economy based on capitalism, the best thing we can do as is to function as good consumers. Stick with only reputable companies; ones that have been around for quite some time and have a history of reputable label claims and lab analysis. Do a lot of your own research; ask a lot of questions, and don’t be gullible. Demand truth and integrity out of these companies. The ones that can rise to the occasion will do so, legitimate products will be manufactured, and the FDA will stay out. And these other slim ball companies will fall to the way side and be forgotten, the way all deceivers do.
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Michael
Trample the weak; hurdle the dead!
Chaos, Panic, Disorder.... Yes, my work here is done!
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