Updated: 02/03/2015 12:19 PM
Created: 02/03/2015 10:45 AM WNYT.com
By: WNYT Staff
NEW YORK – Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Tuesday that his office has sent Cease and Desist Letters to four major retailers for allegedly selling store brand herbal supplements in New York that either don’t contain what they claim, or contain additional ingredients that are not listed on the label.
Target, Walmart, GNC and Walgreens all received letters after DNA testing, performed as part of an ongoing investigation, allegedly found that only 21% of test results verified DNA from the plants listed on the brand labels. The A.G. has called for the immediate removal of these products from the shelves, which include such popular items as Ginseng, St. John's Wort, and Garlic.
The office of A.G. Schneiderman released the following information about which brand’s products are under question and why:
GNC:
• Six “Herbal Plus” brand herbal supplements per store were purchased and analyzed: Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Ginseng, Garlic, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto. Purchased from four locations with representative stores in Binghamton, Harlem, Plattsburgh & Suffolk.
• Only one supplement consistently tested for its labeled contents: Garlic. One bottle of Saw Palmetto tested positive for containing DNA from the saw palmetto plant, while three others did not. The remaining four supplement types yielded mixed results, but none revealed DNA from the labeled herb.
• Of 120 DNA tests run on 24 bottles of the herbal products purchased, DNA matched label identification 22% of the time.
• Contaminants identified included asparagus, rice, primrose, alfalfa/clover, spruce, ranuncula, houseplant, allium, legume, saw palmetto, and Echinacea.
Target:
• Six “Up & Up” brand herbal supplements per store were purchased and analyzed: Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Valerian Root, Garlic, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto. Purchased from three locations with representative stores in Nassau County, Poughkeepsie, and Syracuse.
• Three supplements showed nearly consistent presence of the labeled contents: Echinacea (with one sample identifying rice), Garlic, and Saw Palmetto. The remaining three supplements did not revealed DNA from the labeled herb.
• Of 90 DNA tests run on 18 bottles of the herbal products purchased, DNA matched label identification 41% of the time.
• Contaminants identified included allium, French bean, asparagus, pea, wild carrot and saw palmetto.
Walgreens:
• Six “Finest Nutrition” brand herbal supplements per store were purchased and analyzed: Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Ginseng, Garlic, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto. Purchased from three locations with representative stores in Brooklyn, Rochester and Watertown.
• Only one supplement consistently tested for its labeled contents: Saw Palmetto. The remaining five supplements yielded mixed results, with one sample of garlic showing appropriate DNA. The other bottles yielded no DNA from the labeled herb.
• Of the 90 DNA test run on 18 bottles of herbal products purchased, DNA matched label representation 18% of the time.
• Contaminants identified included allium, rice, wheat, palm, daisy, and dracaena (houseplant).
Walmart:
• Six “Spring Valley” brand herbal supplements per store were purchased and analyzed: Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Ginseng, Garlic, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto. Purchased from three geographic locations with representative stores in Buffalo, Utica and Westchester.
• None of the supplements tested consistently revealed DNA from the labeled herb. One bottle of garlic had a minimal showing of garlic DNA, as did one bottle of Saw Palmetto. All remaining bottles failed to produce DNA verifying the labeled herb.
• Of the 90 DNA test run on 18 bottles of herbal products purchased, DNA matched label representation 4% of the time.
• Contaminants identified included allium, pine, wheat/grass, rice mustard, citrus, dracaena (houseplant), and cassava (tropical tree root).
