Consumer Lab testing, controversy, does this company have a tendency to publish only the negative outcomes from companies that are not members?
Consumer Lab has been criticized by supplement makers because in addition to these periodic reviews of products on the market, the company also runs a parallel voluntary certification program. Companies can pay for ConsumerLab.com's testing services and if the products meet standards — meaning the supplements contain what their labels' claim and aren't contaminated — they can receive a certification. Yet ConsumerLab.com does not publish the names of companies who have paid to go through their certification program but failed.
Arthritis supplements often lack
Chondroitin
April 2007 - Of the 20 joint supplements marketed to people and their pets that
were selected by ConsumerLab.com and tested by independent laboratories, 40
percent failed to contain what their labels promised. All the problems popped up
among products that claimed to contain
Chondroitin-Sulfate, a key — and pricey —
ingredient. Of 11 such brands, eight came up short on the substance, which is
purported to inhibit enzymes that break down the cartilage in joints.
Even pets are getting shorted. Nutri-Vet Nutritionals
Hip & Joint Soft Chews, which is marketed for dogs, contained less than 1
percent of its claimed chondroitin and less than half the promised glucosamine,
a substance thought to stimulate cartilage production.
Among those that failed the Consumer Lab testing were:
* Karuna Chondroitin Sulfate, which claims “the optimum in purity, potency and
reliability,” contained only half the labeled chondroitin.
* Nature’s Plus Ultra Maximum Strength Chondroitin 600 had no detectable
chondroitin.
* Swanson Health Products’ Premium Brand Glucosamine & Chondroitin had only 8
percent of promised chondroitin.
* Weil Glucosamine & Chondroitin contained the claimed ingredients but they
didn’t break down quickly enough. That’s a problem, Cooperman says, because it
will result in the supplement just passing through a person’s body without being
absorbed.
Kari Graber, quality assurance manager at Swanson Health Products Inc., took
issue with ConsumerLab.com’s test procedures. “We stand by the quality of our
products,” Graber said. “We send all of our products out for independent testing
and this product has passed repeatedly. “I’m not sure if the method they’re
using is appropriate for this product. It’s not the one our lab uses. It’s not
widely accepted.”
Joint products for pets
that failed Consumer Lab testing
* Joint MAX Regular Strength, Now with Manganese, made by Pet Health Solutions,
contained just 2.1 percent of the chondroitin advertised on its label, but did
contain the proper amount of glucosamine.
* Nutri-Vet Nutritionals Hip & Joint Soft Chews was found to be lacking in both
ingredients with 47.2 percent of the advertised glucosamine and 0.7 percent of
the chondroitin.