In the United States, the dietary supplement industry's overall economic impact is $122 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $350 billion by 2025. Despite the size of the industry, the FDA does not regulate the supplement and botanical markets. Unfortunately, following big money come the hucksters and thieves that try to make a quick buck. With the rise in popularity of supplements has come a parallel increase in “economic adulteration.” According to the FDA economic adulteration is “the fraudulent, intentional substitution or addition of a substance in a product to increase the apparent value of the product or reduce the cost of its production, i.e., for economic gain.”

Economic adulteration of supplements results in products that have less than the expected amount of bioactive material. Worse, the materials used to adulterate the molecule of interest may be detrimental to your employment (e.g., THC in CBD), health, or life.

A phenomenal resource we learned about during my fellowship is ConsumerLab. Consumerlab is an independent laboratory that tests supplements and botanicals for purity, potency, and cost. The website contains information on over 1,000 different products, including quality ratings and comparisons by brand. The site also maintains the most recent information on recalls and warnings related to supplements and botanicals.

Although the site charges about $4/month for access, it is well worth the cost. I do not prescribe, recommend, or take a supplement without first consulting Consumerlab.

I hope you find this resource useful.