GNC and Military Base Exchanges stop selling USPlabs products

GNC has ordered its 5,000 retail stores, including those located on military bases, to stop selling products made by USPlabs after the Dallas-based company’s executives were charged with allegedly lying to government regulators and the public about ingredients of at least two products.

GNC officials said Nov. 19 that while the criminal charges are not related to current products on the market, they were suspending sales of all products made by UPSlabs “in the best interest of our customers."

“While ... we have no reason to believe there are any health and safety issues with respect to any USPlabs products currently sold by GNC, it is in our best interest … to suspend the sale of the company’s products pending further review,” Michael Archbold, CEO of GNC, said in a news release.

After GNC made the announcement, the Marine Corps Exchange stopped selling a reformulated version of the workout booster Jack3d, according to a spokesman from the Marine Corps Non-Appropriated Funds Business and Support Services Division.

The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which carries the USPlabs workout supplement Jack3d Micro, is “evaluating the situation and will decide soon on whether the product will continue to be stocked," a spokeswoman said.

Navy Exchange spokeswoman Kristine Sturkie said USPlabs products were carried by GNC stores and not sold in the service's exchanges.

USPlabs and its top executives face criminal charges following a Justice Department investigation that alleges key ingredients in workout boosters such as Jack3d and OxyElite Pro are synthetic stimulants rather than natural ingredients as claimed.

An 11-count indictment handed down in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in mid-November charges USPlabs, S.K. Laboratory and five company executives with unlawful sale of dietary supplements, conspiracy to commit money laundering, obstructing an FDA proceeding, wire fraud and food mislabeling.

The supplements Jack3d and OxyElite Pro contained 1,3 dimethylamylamine, or DMAA, or other ingredients the company claimed were naturally derived from plants, including geraniums or bael, a fruit common in India.

But the Justice Department said the two companies conspired with Chinese manufacturers to create a paper trail claiming the ingredients were natural in an effort to ensure U.S. retailers would sell the products, while the substances actually were synthesized chemical compounds.

The Defense Department removed products containing DMAA, including Jack3d, from base stores and on-base GNCs in 2013 after the supplements were implicated in the deaths of at least two soldiers who suffered heart attacks during physical training.

A follow-on investigation found insufficient evidence to prove the supplements caused the deaths, but investigators still decided that the ingredient posed enough of a health risk to keep it off the shelves of military stores.

In 2012, the FDA told companies selling products containing DMAA to stop using the ingredient.

USPlabs voluntarily destroyed $8 million worth of Jack3d and OxyElite Pro after the FDA move, but then reformulated the products, which made their way back to store shelves.v According court documents, the reformulated OxyElite Pro contained aegeline, which the company claimed was a natural extract but investigators allege is also a synthetic stimulant.

The company also added another ingredient, labeled as cynanchum auriculatum root extract, to OxyElite Pro to promote weight loss.

When the new formula went on the market in October 2013, more than 50 residents of Hawaii, including some military family members, developed acute hepatitis and liver failure. At least one person died and three required liver transplants.

According to the Justice Department, four defendants were arrested Nov. 17 and two agreed to self-surrender.

Article from Military Times

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DMAA Warning for Workout Supplements

The Defense Department’s Human Performance Resource Center is warning troops that DMAA, an ingredient found in some workout supplements banned by federal regulators in 2013, remains widely available online.

Nearly 40 supplements containing 1,3 dimethlyamylamine, sometimes called “geranium extract,” can be purchased through online retailers, according to the center. Go to the list of supplements here:


Roughly a quarter of those products are made by Georgia-based Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, which has filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration, alleging it illegally seized products containing DMAA in 2013 and failed to take the legal steps required to restrict the substance.

The government contends that DMAA is an unapproved food additive, and because the FDA considers it unsafe, the agency acted legally in banning it and confiscating products containing the ingredient, since those products are considered “adulterated.”

While the suit makes its way through the judicial system — a judge in April denied the government’s motion to dismiss — some DMAA products remain available online.

"Many [products with DMAA] are still being produced (or produced again), and some are even new," HPRC officials stated in a news release. "That means it’s very important to read dietary supplement product labels carefully to make sure yours doesn’t contain this potentially dangerous ingredient."

Originally developed and sold as a nasal decongestant, DMAA is advertised as a fat-burner or body-sculpting product. It is known to elevate blood pressure and can cause health problems ranging from heart attacks to shortness of breath, the FDA says.

Before it sent warning letters requiring manufacturers to remove DMAA products from the market, the FDA had received 86 reports of illnesses or death associated with the substance.

However, these "adverse event reports” indicate only that a patient either developed symptoms or died after or while using the product — and does not necessarily mean the ingredient was responsible for the illness or injury.

The Defense Department removed DMAA products from military exchanges and on-base GNC stores out of concern it may have contributed to the deaths of at least two soldiers who suffered heart attacks during physical training.

After the deaths and several other incidents involving DMAA, defense officials launched a two-year review of the ingredient that concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove it caused the service members’ deaths.

But the authors of the review also agreed that the ingredient posed enough of a health risk to keep it off the shelves of military stores.

DMAA is banned by the World Doping Agency and its use is strongly discouraged among service members.

According to the HRPC website, the FDA's declaration of DMAA as illegal for use as a dietary supplement ingredient specifically means “service members should not use dietary supplement products that contain it.”

The families of the two troops who died, Pvt. Michael Sparling and Sgt. Demekia Cola, filed lawsuits against GNC and USPLabs, the manufacturer of Jack3d, OxyElite Pro and other products containing DMAA. A jury trial has been postponed in the Sparling case until 2016; the mother of Demekia Cola reached a settlement with USPLabs on July 13.

Muhammed Islam, CEO of Total Body Nutrition, marketers for 1,3 D Bomb, a product that hails itself as the “most potent 1,3 dimethylamylamine available,” said he is breaking no laws by selling a pure DMAA powder online, because "it is pure and not actually 'adulterating' any product."

He said that as with any substance that is ingested, it should be consumed with caution.

“If you consume a lot of anything, you can get sick. If you eat too much chicken, you would be sick,” Islam said. “I can see people in the military thinking, 'I’m in the military, I can handle it.' But it must be taken carefully."

But HPRC officials say troops should steer clear of DMAA altogether, since the FDA considers it illegal and "DoD follows federal policy with regard to the use and possession of substances and products considered illegal."

“Not only could it be dangerous to your health, it could also be dangerous to your military career,” HPRC officials wrote on their website. “Keep in mind, though, that pre-workout, weight-loss or other performance dietary supplements without DMAA also may not be safe for your health.”



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Investigation Of Supplements At Target, Walmart, Walgreens, And GNC Reveals Troubling Discovery

From an article by Jenna Birch, posted on Yahoo! Health

As some supplements contained fillers like powdered rice, asparagus, and houseplants. the supplement industry has come under fire recently over concerns regarding regulations and effectiveness of the. And now, new findings by the New York State attorney general’s office may add fuel to the fire.

Earlier this week, four major retailers — Target, Walmart, Walgreens, and GNC — were accused of selling herbal supplements that lacked ingredients claimed on the label. Some even contained additional, potentially harmful ingredients.

MyAchingKnees comment: Really!?!? Not only do these major retailers not make most of the supplements they sell, the one's they do sell are made via food grade manufacturing process which does not to guarantee what's ion the label in in the bottle. You have no idea if what you are buying and putting in your body is what that bottle claims is in each dose. If you are one of those non-supplement believers, who came to that conclusion after twenty, thirty years or so of taking supplements without seeing any results so therefore think that nutritional supplements don't do you any good,....well here's a news flash - you were not taking what you thought you were taking. If you took a quality supplement, something made via pharmaceutical grade standards then you would see a change in your health. Likely a huge chance in your health. I have not been sick in almost ten years. Yet my younger and more physically studly friends get sick all the time. And they spend hundreds of dollars a month of food grade products. I tell them, "hey, if that work for you, then keep on with your bad self."

The attorney general’s team tested 24 products in total. Roughly four out of five supplements tested did not contain the medicinal herbs they were supposed to, and were instead rife with “cheap fillers like powdered rice, asparagus and houseplants, and in some cases substances that could be dangerous to those with allergies,” according to a New York Times report.

This prompted four cease-and-desist letters from the attorney general’s office to the retail chains for explanation on how these potentially hazardous supplements could have been sold in the stores. “Mislabeling, contamination and false advertising are illegal,” says Eric T. Schneiderman, the state attorney general, according to The Times. “They also pose unacceptable risks to New York families — especially those with allergies to hidden ingredients.”

Among the problem supplements was a ginseng pill from Walgreens marketed for increased endurance and vitality — but contained little more than garlic and rice powder. Another was a ginkgo biloba supplement from Walmart that was mainly a mix of powdered radish, houseplants, and wheat — and its label said it was wheat- and gluten-free.

Walgreens is pulling the problematic supplements from shelves. Walmart plans to reach out to suppliers and take necessary action to ensure the safety of its customers. GNC says the company is willing to cooperate following this investigation, but stood behind its own supplements and testing system. Target so far has not issued a comment.

The attorney general’s office conducted its test by purchasing 78 bottles of the four retailers’ top brands from a dozen Walmart, Target, GNC, and Walgreens stores in the state. Then, they used a type of “DNA barcoding” that analyzes short sequences of DNA within organisms (like herbs and plants) contained within a substance.

Health care experts have warned about the potential dangers of the unregulated supplement industry for some time, including in a 2012 review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Certain ingredients, like high amounts of caffeine, pose risks for certain consumers.

Since supplements are not currently subjected to the FDA’s testing standards, some experts say it’s impossible to tell how safe they really are. In 2013, for instance, nearly 100 hepatitis cases were linked with a contaminated supplement.

Dr. Pieter Cohen, a supplement-safety expert and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, told The Times this news may be a major setback for supplements. “If this data is accurate, then it is an unbelievably devastating indictment of the industry,” he says. “We’re talking about products at mainstream retailers like Walmart and Walgreens that are expected to be the absolute highest quality.”

Admittedly, though, Cohen says these results are a bit eyebrow-raising, since so many of the supplements were shown not to contain any of the labeled plant DNA. He hypothesizes that manufacturing wiped away some of the DNA coding, so the herbal and plant ingredients were present — they just weren’t detectable. However, this would not seem to explain the contaminants in the pills.

Ashley Harris, RD, a dietitian at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, says you should always talk to a health care professional before taking a supplement. Even if it appears effective for treating or curbing a certain condition, that doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone — or healthy.

"There is always potential for dangerous interactions with current medications, supplements, or health conditions,” she tells Yahoo Health. “So supplement use needs to be reevaluated with any change in your medication regimen or health status, and several supplements may need to be discontinued prior to surgeries."

In addition, if you choose to take a supplement, find the safest brands you can. “Because there is limited regulation with supplements on the market, it is important to do your research,” Harris says. “There are several third-party agencies who evaluate the purity and potency of supplements that you can use to guide you. Look for the USP or NSF International stamp of approval, or you can check out Consumer Lab.”

The attorney general’s investigation was spurred by a 2013 Times story about potential supplement fraud. See below for the complete list of supplements the New York attorney general asked retailers take off shelves.

GNC:

•“Herbal Plus” Gingko Biloba
•“Herbal Plus” St. John’s Wort
•“Herbal Plus” Ginseng
•“Herbal Plus” Garlic
•“Herbal Plus” Echninacea
•“Herbal Plus” Saw Palmetto

Target:

•"Up & Up" Gingko Biloba
•"Up & Up" St. John’s Wort
•"Up & Up" Garlic
•"Up & Up" Echinacea
•"Up & Up" Saw Palmetto
•"Up & Up" Valerian Root

Walgreens:

•“Finest Nutrition” Ginko Biloba
•“Finest Nutrition” St. John’s Wort
•“Finest Nutrition” Ginsberg
•“Finest Nutrition” Garlic
•“Finest Nutrition” Echinacea
•“Finest Nutrition” Saw Palmetto

Walmart:

•“Spring Valley” Gingko Biloba
•“Spring Valley” St. John’s Wort
•“Spring Valley” Ginseng
•“Spring Valley” Garlic
•“Spring Valley” Echinacea
•“Spring Valley” Saw Palmetto


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