The Supplement Industry and Dr.Oz’s Roast

The problem with the supplement industry in America and Dr.Oz’s role 

What do magic beans that make you lose weight, the weight loss cure for that stubborn 10 pounds and a lightning pill that strikes fat off your body have in common? They are all marketing claims that Dr. Mehmet Oz made on The Doctor Oz Show. Presenting himself as a professional, Dr. Oz made over zealous claims that he knew where lies to the millions that watch his show. Being so influential in mainstream media Dr. Oz was humiliated last week in front of a congressional committee that grilled him for claims. John Oliver took this public grilling as a way to entertain his audience through a sixteen minute smack down of Dr. Oz and the supplement industry as a whole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WA0wKeokWUU

Using Dr.Oz’s public grilling as a segway Oliver ranted over the state of the supplement industry in America. The supplement industry is a 32 Billion dollar industry in America with over half of the population taking supplements. For a company to introduce a supplement product onto the market they simply need to label the ingredients on their containers and if they use a new ingredient provide the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with 75 days’ notice before releasing their product and a list of reasons/ citations why the new ingredient is safe. This reactive approach to the supplement industry means that some studies are finding that up to 30% of supplement products tested lack the special ingredient evangelised on the bottle, meaning there’s a very real possibility that that kale extract touted on the package might not even be the pills. On the health side this might sound like a reasonably safe system for food supplements but there is one problem, people are dying.

The Dangers of Supplements In America

In perhaps the most obviously example of how the FDA’s current regulations is failing people are being hospitalized and dying from taking off the shelf supplements. There were over 500 supplements identified as adulterated, these supplements contains things ranging from pharmaceuticals/ pharmaceutical analogues, unapproved antidepressants, to banned weight-loss medications. Some popular mainstream products have also been found to include analogues of methamphetamine and amphetamine’s in their products and by February 2014 the CDC had linked 97 cases, resulting in 47 hospitalizations, three liver transplantations, and one death, to OxyElite Pro alone. This supplement was particularly hazardous and is exemplary of the dangers of an industry not regulated with pre-market approval. When it comes to people’s lives rules should be preventative not reactive. Want to see exactly how easy is it for someone to make and sell a supplement? Check out this three minute video to learn how:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ThdFqGLq4QU

The FDA classifies supplement marketing claims into two categories, structure/ function claims and disease claims. For disease claims a product label can only claim the supplement can help prevent or treat a disease if the FDA finds that there is “significant scientific agreement”, or it has been approved by federal health agency or the National Academy of Sciences.

In contrast, the structure/ function claims that the supplement industry is built upon are claims that suggest the supplements can maintain, regulation or promote normal healthy bodily functions with the requirement mandating that the labels state that the claims have not been evaluated by the FDA.

This is How Bad It Is

So while a health supplement can’t claim to cure arthritis it can be marketed as promoting and maintain healthy joint tissue. Let’s look at a product GNC, a well-recognized company, sell on their website, Instaflex™. This product is described as:

“Instaflex™ Joint Support is a revolutionary joint health formula that has been scientifically formulated to help relieve stiff, achy joints and support cartilage repair. Featuring an exclusive compound of eight key ingredients that have been clinically tested for maximum effectiveness. Use Instaflex™ daily for happy, healthy, active lives. Relieve Discomfort * Improve Flexibility* Increase Mobility* * These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

This example clearly shows how a supplement can legally be marketed in a way that portrays it as a cure for a disease or condition without explicitly saying so. This line is blurred even more in one of the largest portions of the supplement industry, weight loss. It is hard to flip through a Men’s Health magazine or enter a supplementary medicine store without seeing an advertisement or product that promises to melt the fat off your body or boost your metabolism. When people are spending money on products that mislead people into believing that they will shed off dozens of pounds or kick start their metabolism and in some cases going to the hospital from consuming off the shelf products something needs to be change, whether it is more regulatory authority for the FDA or an industry derived requirement.