What’s in the bottle does not always match what’s on the label

Label fraud in supplements

Do you take a vitamin pill? Listen to this story about a supplement (another name for a vitamin) and maybe you will be more careful about choosing your next vitamin.

What follows is a true story about a Colorado Springs-based dietary supplement manufacturer, the Chemins Company. Both Chemins and its owner and president, James Cameron, were found guilty in January 2000 of conspiring to defraud the Food and Drug Administration, known as the FDA. Cameron pleaded guilty to the charge related to the manufacture and marketing of Chemins’ nutritional supplement, called Formula One. Formula one contained both ephedrine and caffeine. The reason for the fraud charge is that the presence of the ephedrine and caffeine was not placed on the product label of the supplement. Formula One had been marketed as an “All Natural Nutritional Supplement.” In addition, Cameron admitted that the company used both drug substances in many other products, including a product called “Supercharge,” without notifying consumers. In fact, as it turned out, the company was found to have made a late-night transfer of these ingredients to the home of a Chemins employee in order to hide it from an FDA inspection and it lied when confronted by the FDA. They also changed its manufacturing and inventory records to conceal its illegal activities during FDA inspections. The Chemins Company and James Cameron were each fined over $2.3 Million dollars and in July 2000, James Cameron was sentenced to 21 months in prison for his crime.

If you use vitamins, which are supplements, you should know that vitamins are viewed by the FDA as food. They are not regulated in the same manner as are pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals are drugs that have therapeutic effects; examples of pharmaceuticals are over-the-counter drugs, behind-the-counter drugs, and prescription drugs. Vitamins can be as harmful or helpful as drugs but the FDA does not give them as much attention. As long as a supplement manufacturer does not say that their supplement treats, prevents, or cures a disease than the FDA stays out of it. There is far more protection for a consumer to take over-the-counter or prescription drugs than supplements. Nutritional supplement manufacturers do not have to follow the same, if any, quality control standards as drug manufacturers. This means that every supplement pill in a bottle or from bottle to bottle could be different. It is primarily the supplement manufacturer’s responsibility to make sure a supplement is safe. The FDA’s job is to deal with any supplement that has been proven to be unsafe once it has already been on the market.

Have you ever been lured into buying a supplement because it says natural on the label? Have you ever thought that “natural” supplements seem healthier than a prescription medication? The truth is that many supplements have been tested and found to contain things like heavy metals, bacteria, and pesticides. Some so-called “natural supplements” have even been found to contain prescription drugs that are not included in the product’s label.

So, next time you think about purchasing a nutritional supplement, consult your doctor first and remember, “Buyer Beware.” Be cautious about which product you buy and in the words of Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”