US stores sell mislabeled herbal supplements

© NY AG's office

Buffalo, New York - New York State wants certain herbal supplements pulled from store shelves. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said four major retailers sell supplements that have contaminants not identified on ingredient labels.

Schneiderman's office said mislabeled consumer products are posing unacceptable health hazards. They are calling on GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart to make some changes.

DNA tests revealed, overall, 21 percent of the test results from store brand herbal supplements verified DNA from the plants listed on the products labeled.

Walmart had the poorest showing for DNA matching the products listed with only four percent, according to Schneiderman.

Details from Schneiderman below:

GNC:

- Six "Herbal Plus" brand herbal supplements per store were purchased and analyzed: Gingko Biloba, St. John's Wort, Ginseng, Garlic, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto. Purchased from four locations with representative stores in Binghamton, Harlem, Plattsburgh & Suffolk.

- Only one supplement consistently tested for its labeled contents: Garlic. One bottle of Saw Palmetto tested positive for containing DNA from the saw palmetto plant, while three others did not. The remaining four supplement types yielded mixed results, but none revealed DNA from the labeled herb.

- Of 120 DNA tests run on 24 bottles of the herbal products purchased, DNA matched label identification 22% of the time.

- Contaminants identified included asparagus, rice, primrose, alfalfa/clover, spruce, ranuncula, houseplant, allium, legume, saw palmetto, and Echinacea.

Target:

- Six "Up & Up" brand herbal supplements per store were purchased and analyzed: Gingko Biloba, St. John's Wort, Valerian Root, Garlic, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto. Purchased from three locations with representative stores in Nassau County, Poughkeepsie, and Syracuse.

- Three supplements showed nearly consistent presence of the labeled contents: Echinacea (with one sample identifying rice), Garlic, and Saw Palmetto. The remaining three supplements did not reveal DNA from the labeled herb.

- Of 90 DNA tests run on 18 bottles of the herbal products purchased, DNA matched label identification 41% of the time.

- Contaminants identified included allium, French bean, asparagus, pea, wild carrot and saw palmetto.

Walgreens:

- Six "Finest Nutrition" brand herbal supplements per store were purchased and analyzed: Gingko Biloba, St. John's Wort, Ginseng, Garlic, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto. Purchased from three locations with representative stores in Brooklyn, Rochester and Watertown.

- Only one supplement consistently tested for its labeled contents: Saw Palmetto. The remaining five supplements yielded mixed results, with one sample of garlic showing appropriate DNA. The other bottles yielded no DNA from the labeled herb.

- Of the 90 DNA test run on 18 bottles of herbal products purchased, DNA matched label representation 18% of the time.

- Contaminants identified included allium, rice, wheat, palm, daisy, and dracaena (houseplant).

Walmart:

- Six "Spring Valley" brand herbal supplements per store were purchased and analyzed: Gingko Biloba, St. John's Wort, Ginseng, Garlic, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto. Purchased from three geographic locations with representative stores in Buffalo, Utica and Westchester.

- None of the supplements tested consistently revealed DNA from the labeled herb. One bottle of garlic had a minimal showing of garlic DNA, as did one bottle of Saw Palmetto. All remaining bottles failed to produce DNA verifying the labeled herb.

- Of the 90 DNA test run on 18 bottles of herbal products purchased, DNA matched label representation 4% of the time.

- Contaminants identified included allium, pine, wheat/grass, rice mustard, citrus, dracaena (houseplant), and cassava (tropical tree root).

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