Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association, said that herb identification using DNA testing should be confirmed with established analytical tools herbal experts use such as chromatography or microscopy. A representative of one supplement industry trade group called the DNA barcoding testing procedure “an emerging technology” which may not be appropriate for herbal products. GNC indicated those particular products had been removed from its store shelves, but a representative said the company stands behind its supplements and that the testing methodology used by the AG’s office might not have been appropriate. Walgreens agreed to remove the products from its stores across the country, even though only New York was requiring it to do so. “Based on this notice, we are immediately reaching out to the suppliers of these products to learn more information and will take appropriate action,” a Walmart spokesperson said. Only the GNC garlic consistently tested as advertised, according to the AG’s office. Schneiderman said that only 4 percent of Walmart’s supplements (“Spring Valley” brand) actually contained the ingredients listed on the label, while 18 percent did at Walgreens (“Finest Nutrition” brand), 22 percent at GNC (“Herbal Plus” brand), and 41 percent at Target stores (“Up & Up” brand). Each sample was tested five times, for a total of 390 tests on 78 samples. Three to four samples of each supplement purchased in different parts of the state were tested. John’s Wort, Ginseng, Echinacea, Valerian Root, Garlic and Saw Palmetto. Tests were done at the request of the New York AG’s office on the following store-brand supplements: Ginkgo Biloba, St. “Contamination, substitution and falsely labeling herbal products constitute deceptive business practices and, more importantly, present considerable health risks for consumers,” it continued. “Of late, the topic of purity (or lack thereof) in popular herbal dietary supplements has raised serious public health and safety concerns, and also caused this office to take steps to independently assess the validity of industry and advertising,” the letters stated. 9 detailing how their store-brand supplements are processed. The companies were also asked to provide information to the AG’s office by Feb. NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent cease-and-desist letters Monday to the heads of all four companies demanding that they stop selling their store-brand herbal supplements because DNA barcoding showed that 79 percent of them either didn’t contain the stated ingredient(s), or were contaminated by other filler materials such as rice and wheat to which some people might be allergic. The New York Attorney General’s office has ordered four major retailers - Walmart, Target, Walgreens and GNC - to stop selling “adulterated” and “mislabeled” herbal supplements that independent lab tests show do not contain ingredients as stated on the labels.
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