Even the most informed consumers tricked shoppers—until now. Learn the most common additives to look out for, and you’ll never have to second-guess your supplement labels again.
Ref: https://www.supplementcharts.com/blacklisted/
Supplement companies that use dangerous ingredients such as Gummies, Centrum and Flintstones, etc.
Here's a few examples from CENTRUM products / fact sheets below;
CENTRUM Kids Label Contains Harmful Ingredients
Sucrose, Pregelatinized Corn Starch, Maltodextrin, dl- Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (Vit. E). Contains < 2% of: Aspartame, BHT (to preserve freshness), Blue 2 Lake, Carrageenan, Folic Acid, Modified Corn Starch, Artificial Flavors, Potassium Iodide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vit. B 6 ), Red 40 Lake, Silicon Dioxide, Sodium Molybdate, Vitamin A Acetate, Yellow 6 Lake.
http://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=3776
Centrum Silver Label Women Multivitamin/Multimineral Harmful Ingredients
dl-Alpha, Modified Corn Starch, Blue 2 Lake, Calcium Pantothenate, Corn Starch, Ferrous Fumarate, Folic Acid, Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Polydextrose, Potassium Iodide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vit. B 6 ), Red 40 Lake, Silicon Dioxide, Sodium Metavanadate, Sodium Molybdate, Sodium Selenate, Talc, Titanium Dioxide, Vitamin A Acetate.
http://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=3769 Centrum
Silver Men Label Multivitamin/Multimineral Harmful Supplement
Dibasic Calcium Phosphate, dl-Alpha. Modified Corn Starch, Maltodextrin, Corn Starch, Crospovidone, Blue 2 Lake, Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vit. B 6 ), Red 40 Lake, Sodium Metavanadate, Sodium Molybdate, Sodium Selenate, Talc, Vitamin A Acetate, Yellow 6 Lake.
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman
The New York Attorney General conducted an investigation on supplements sold at major national retailers — GNC, Target, Walgreen, CVS, Wal-Mart and found that 4 out 5 supplements tested didn't contain the DNA from plant species listed on labels!
A.G. Schneiderman Asks Major Retailers To Halt Sales Of Certain Herbal Supplements As DNA Tests Fail To Detect Plant Materials Listed On Majority Of Products Tested!
Cease And Desist Letters Sent To GNC, Target,CVS, Walgreen And Walmart As Most Store Brand Supplements Were Found To Contain Contaminants Not Identified On Ingredient Labels. Just 21% Of Supplement Tests Identified DNA From Plant Species Listed on Labels but 79% were not able to identify the ingredients inside the bottles!
DR. TED BROER
"MOST POPULAR KIDS SUPPLEMENTS CAN CAUSE BRAIN SEIZURES".
"Most popular supplements are actually a cocktail of synthetic chemicals"
Dr. Ted Continues
Many popular adult and kid supplements sold at big block retailers like Centrum, Flintstones, Gummy bears and Nature Made, etc. (including your MD prescription vitamins) are no more than a chemical cocktail full of Artificial Colors, Flavors and Sweeteners...It also contains harmful fillers/excipients like TALC, Aspartame and Corn syrup which can cause brain tumors, brain cancer, seizures, headaches, and so on... These supplements also contain hydrogenated palm oil, GMO cornstarch, petroleum-derived vitamins from coal tar, and other pure chemicals that are very harmful for human consumptions.
What about bodybuilding, performance and weight loss supplements?
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/usplabs-and-corporate-officers-indicted US DEPT. OF JUSTICE ANNOUNCES CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST DIETARY SUPPLEMENT MAKER THAT SCAMMED CONSUMERS WITH DANGEROUS INGREDIENTS AND FALSE LABELS!
Tags: dietary supplements, criminal indictments, Department of Justice According to the DOJ, USP Labs in Texas imported bulk isolated chemical ingredients from China and then mislabeled them as plant-based ingredients. They also engaged in deceptive marketing and even the chemical adulteration of their product, says the DOJ, causing liver damage in numerous customers and putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk. In a widely publicized announcement today, the DOJ, FDA, FTC, and DoD all urged consumers to beware of what they call “high-risk supplements” which are:
- Weight loss dietary supplements made with chemical stimulants and marketed with outrageous claims of magical weight loss.
- Bodybuilding supplements made with chemical ingredients that promise unreal muscle gains but actually contain potentially hazardous chemicals.
- Performance-enhancing supplements that may contain banned substances (doping)which may also pose a risk to consumers. Criminal indictments were handed down today against at least four executives of the USP Labs company in Texas, plus at least 20 warning letters have been sent out to other companies for engaging in what the federal government described as misleading, even “criminal” behavior
Hydrogenated Palm Oil: Hydrogenating any oil turns the oil rancid and makes it into a strong free radical. Free radicals promote cancer and heart disease.
Talc: Has been shown to cause cancer. (5,6,7)
Sodium Aluminosilicate: Used as a food additive for its anti-caking effect.
Top Pharma-Brand of Children’s Vitamins Contains Aspartame, GMOs, & Other Hazardous Chemicals
- Kids vitamins are supposed to be healthy, right? Well then, what’s going on with Flintstones Vitamins, which proudly claims to be “Pediatricians’ #1 Choice”? Produced by the global pharmaceutical corporation Bayer, this wildly successful brand features a shocking list of unhealthy ingredients, including:
- Aspartame
- Cupric Oxide
- Coal tar artificial coloring agents (FD&C Blue #2, Red #40, Yellow #6)
- Zinc Oxide
- Sorbitol
- Ferrous Fumarate
- Hydrogenated Oil (Soybean)
- GMO Cornstarch
- 82% of kids aren’t eating all of their veggies1. Without enough vegetables, kids may not be getting all of the nutrients they need.
ASPARTAME
Aspartame is a synthetic combination of the amino acids aspartic acid and l-phenylalanine, and is known to convert into highly toxic methanol and formaldehyde in the body. Aspartame has been linked to over 40 adverse health effects in the biomedical literature, and has been shown to exhibit both neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity [1] What business does a chemical like this have done in a children’s vitamin, especially when non-toxic, non-synthetic non-nutritive sweeteners like stevia already exist?
CUPRIC OXIDE
Next, let’s look closer at Cupric Oxide, 2mg of which is included in each serving of Flinstone’s Complete chewable vitamins as a presumably ‘nutritional’ source of ‘copper,’ supplying “100% of the Daily Value (Ages 4+), according to Flintstones Vitamins Web site’s Nutritional Info.[2]
But what is Cupric Oxide? A nutrient or a chemical?
According to the European Union’s Dangerous Substance Directive, one of the main EU laws concerning chemical safety, Cupric Oxide is listed as a Hazardous substance, classified as both “Harmful (XN)” and “Dangerous for the environment” (N). Consider that it has industrial applications as a pigment in ceramics, and as a chemical in the production of rayon fabric and dry cell batteries. In may be technically correct to call it a mineral, but should it be listed as a nutrient in a children’s vitamin? We think not.
COAL-TAR ARTIFICIAL COLORING AGENTS
A well-known side effect of using synthetic dyes is attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. For direct access to study abstracts on this topic view our Food Coloring research page. There is also an indication that the neurotoxicity of artificial food coloring agents increases when combined with aspartame,[3] making the combination of ingredients in Flintstones even more concerning.
ZINC OXIDE
Each serving of Flintstones Complete Chewable vitamins contains 12 mg of zinc oxide, which the manufacturer claims delivers 75% of the Daily Value to children 2 & 3 years of age. Widely used as a sun protection factor (SPF) in sunscreens, The EU’s Dangerous Substance Directive classifies it as an environmental Hazard, “Dangerous for the environment (N).” How it can be dangerous to the environment, but not for humans ingesting it, escapes me. One thing is for sure if one is to ingest supplemental zinc, or market it for use by children, it makes much more sense using a form that is organically bound (i.e. ‘chelated’) to an amino acid like glycine, as it will be more bioavailable and less toxic.
More Dangerous (and Common) Vitamin Fillers You Must Avoid!
http://draxe.com/4-dangerous-and-common-vitamin-fillers-you-must-avoid/- Dangerous Filler #1: Hydrogenated Oils
- Dangerous Filler #2: Artificial Colors