Many supplement companies don’t test their products for safety, purity or potency. Even those that tout their “third-party” certification aren’t what you may think. These 3rd party “certification” companies are simply pay to play companies. For enough money, a company that markets supplements can pay these “third party” certification companies to “certify” them, but by no means does this verify the standardization of each batch, cleanliness of the product, or the quality of the end product to ensure safety, purity, potency, and effectiveness when consumed.

For example, in a recent 20/20 report, over 50% of omega-3 supplements tested were shown to be rancid when purchased. In a recent NBC news report, over a 10 year period the FDA found 767 products that contained either an unsafe or unstudied ingredient that was not even listed on the label. Still others products in recent years were found to be altogether missing the primary ingredient they claimed the product was delivering, like Aloe Vera products with zero Aloe Vera in it, for example.

Look For:

Supplements from companies that do their own manufacturing (Ideally under the most stringent manufacturing guidelines - a pharmaceutical license for manufacturing), ensuring that what they claim on their labels matches exactly what is actually in each product, in the proper amounts, with no hidden mystery ingredients included. Companies that use transgenic testing to ensure that every batch on organic, non gmo ingredients that arrives at their factory is tested to ensure the absence of gmo contamination.

Avoid:

Supplements from marketing companies that simply use the same generic formulas used by others, but created a different name, label, and marketing story behind it. Products that are manufactured by the lowest bidders at a facility the company has not control over.