The Adulteration of Supplements

Adulteration of supplements is a fact of modern life. You can avoid it. Get informed!

Dr. Oz, the popular television doctor with a daytime showed named after him, brought this scandal to the attention of his viewers and made headlines with claims that products he recently sent for testing in laboratories contained substances they should not for a variety of reasons. What is not outlined clearly in his findings is that the supplements he chose to send to testing were from companies that were known to have unapproved ingredients. While the information he was supplying to his viewers was in part correct, it was only applicable to those specific weight loss supplements sent for testing and not for supplement manufacturers as a whole.  Dr. Oz brought an important point to light yet left out details of how not all companies are guilty of these sorts of practices. Perhaps, for the benefit of his show, he chose supplements already in violation yet made a wide claim that this is standard practice.  The weight loss supplement violations revealed on his show included ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic that had never been found in over-the-counter supplements as well as sibutramine, an ingredient in prescription obesity drugs that was banned because it caused heart attacks, strokes, and seizures.

It seems too easy to put all dietary supplements, whether they are for weight loss or not, under the same umbrella. While many companies do add illegal substances or excipients to their products, this isn’t true for all companies. We take pride in the products we provide to you and believe in them. While this “American Scandal”, as Dr. Oz has named it, is one that warrants some attention, it does not reach all corners of the supplement market and should not have an unfair ripple effect on all companies.

Avoid Adulteration

Adulteration with chemicals.

The promise of losing weight, increasing energy, or curbing hunger trumps the ingredient list for many consumers. Be informed and choose products that are good for your body and provide long-term healing, not harm in the long-run.

Get Informed-Avoid Adulterated Products

Find unadulterated products here!

To learn more about how herbal supplements can be manufactured without the use of harmful chemicals or the addition of unwanted ingredients, check out our learn link here or visit this recent blog about Herbal Purity here.

Our founder, Hanna Kroeger, followed strict rules for which products she would recommend to those who came to see her and we continue to follow these rules today. Don’t settle for anything but the best to put into your body; find good health without chemicals.

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     The Power of Purity in Herbs

When we take herbs for our health we have a certain expectation that what we are taking is the best, most potent botanical available. This is not always the case. One problem that occurs is misrepresentation of the correct species. This often happens when a cheaper more readily available species is substituted for the correct one.  There have been concerns recently about Black Cohosh Root coming from China that is not Cimicifuga racemosa but another variety that does not have the same properties. It is one of the reasons that I only buy domestic Black Cohosh for Hanna’s formulas.  Another tool I like to utilize is buying our herbs in whole or partially cut form. If the herbs are bought in powder form they cannot be properly identified through sensory tests such as sight, smell, taste and touch.  This is known as organoleptic testing.  Also powders can have chemical spikers added to them that can make them appear to be the real McCoy even to a detailed chemical analysis.

Of course knowing your vendors makes a huge difference as well and after putting Hanna’s recipes together for the last twenty years I have been able to find plenty of trustworthy and reliable sources.  I like to pass this type of information on to people so they can feel comfortable taking Kroeger formulas and know that even though these adulteration issues are now becoming a concern for people, we have been aware of them all along and it is nice to see the rest of the industry starting to take it seriously as well.

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