THIS is an example of my biggest complaint about the US supplement scam industry!
Diabetics are particularly at risk, because SUGAR is one of the main ingredients of all the scam
"supplements"
"Supplement" is a LEGAL term in the US, it means that it is illegal to claim it is a food or a
medicine (RIGHT !!!) and, as such, can not be regulated or tested for purity or content unless it
can be proved that it is poisonous.
Vol. 163 No. 6, March 24, 2003 Featured Link
Echinacea and Truth in Labeling Christine M. Gilroy, MD; John F. Steiner, MD, MPH; Tim Byers, MD,
MPH; Howard Shapiro, PhD; William Georgian, MS
Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:699-704.
Background Echinacea sales represent 10% of the dietary supplement market in the United States, but
there is no guarantee as to the content, quality, variability, or contamination in Echinacea
preparations.
Objective To qualitatively and quantitatively assess the contents of Echinacea-only preparations
available in a retail setting.
Methods One of each single-herb Echinacea preparations that were available in August 2000 was
obtained from several stores in the Denver, Colo, area. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was used to
determine species and measure quantity. From this information, accuracy of species labeling and
comparison of constituent to labeled content were assessed. The samples were stratified by whether
they were labeled as standardized, and the standardized and nonstandardized samples were compared by
ratio of constituent to labeled content.
Results Of the samples, 6 (10%) of 59 preparations contained no measurable Echinacea. The assayed
species content was consistent with labeled content in 31 (52%) of the samples. Of the 21
standardized preparations, 9 (43%) met the quality standard described on the label. Labeled
milligrams were weakly associated with measured constituent (r = 0.35; P = .02).
Conclusions Echinacea from retail stores often does not contain the labeled species. A claim of
"standardization" does not mean the preparation is accurately labeled, nor does it indicate less
variability in concentration of constituents of the herb.
Quoted message said:From the Departments of General Internal Medicine (Drs
Gilroy and Steiner), Preventive Medicine and Biometrics (Dr Byers), Preventive Medicine and
Biometrics (Dr Shapiro), University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver; HealthONE Alliance,
Denver (Drs Gilroy and Shapiro); and S&W Microchemical, East Lyme, Conn (Mr Georgian). The authors
have no relevant financial interest in this article.