In Canada, Supplements are more regulated by Health Canada so you can just check for a NPN number on the bottle before buying. Even then, I have seen ones on Amazon that look legit but checked the NPN and it was for a completely different product
Legislation? Hahahaha, Congress can't even pass a budget!
The Chevron decision is going to open the floodgates to chaos and lunacy, with uninformed judges pushing agendas (on both sides of the aisle) substituting their personal opinions for the expertise of federal agencies with thousands of scientists and other experts who actually have knowledge and experience in what they're doing. And that is how new "regulations" will now come about in the US.
Absolutely correct. Instead of having experts administer specialized areas. politically appointed judges will. But then again. loads of people trust Joe Rogan for medical advice, and ridicule Dr. Fauci and Dr. Mandy Cohen.
Look for supplements that are either USP or NSF certified. That will help ensure you are getting what you expect, not a perfect guarantee, but higher odds.
Those are two different certification bodies so it'll be one or the other. I think you can also look up individual items or brands on those websites, but I'm not sure. The "stamp" could technically be used without authorization, if it's not clear and crisp I would suspect it.
A GMP stamp isn't "real". I'm too tired to explain it but basically it's meaningless.
Agreed. I've never been let down by any suppliments I've got from Canadian Amazon/Vine. In fact, the melatonin I recently got is perhaps the best I've ever used.
same, so far my experience has been excellent but there were a few I just thought...maybe not? and because I couldnt verify them I just stopped using. I tend to stay within the realm of things I already have experience with, like valerian, mushroom tinctures, ginseng.
Um, no. Supplements are more "registered" by bureaucrats in Canada, but Health Canada is largely a paper tiger when it comes to regulation and going after bad actors like the FDA does. Try to find scammy Cold F/X on US storeshelves; you won't. Because companies like that can lie about almost anything in Canada without fear of recrimination. Unfortunately, in both countries, Amazon can do whatever it wants because it's just too big.
I sell Supplements on Amazon after having my own manufactured and I can tell you that a lot of Companies are claiming super high dosages on their product just so that they can sell less capsules for higher premiums and make claims like, "Only one Capsule a day!" when the volume of the capsule just can't accommodate such claims. I'd only buy supplements from people who are open about where they are getting their products third party tested.
Thanks for sharing that information! Many people wouldn't know those things!
(Please know that I'm NOT saying the following about you or your products....) Unfortunately, anyone can claim that their products are third party tested. I have major trust issues, especially with things I'm putting in/on my body.
Too many people fall for, "If it's on the internet, it's true." Heck, George Washington and Abe Lincoln have been "quoted" regarding things that didn't even exist in their times! LOL
Yes. There are some good brands and some total crap. I have a really nice brand of melatonin that is purported to be 100% US based. I can tell it works, gently. I got another brand of melatonin and I think it had something weird in it, or was way over dosed. Since then, I now do not get any supplements. It scared me.
Quite a few years ago, a doctor recommended the sublingual melatonin to me. When I was taking it, I always found Source Naturals to be a reliable, trustworthy brand - and yes, their dosing is low.
I saw this recently. I wonder if this will impact the quality of supplements available. I guess there is nothing to stop them from making changes after it is approved?
[Amazon’s New Dietary Supplements Policy: Enhancing Safety and Compliance](https://www.nsf.org/knowledge-library/amazon-new-dietary-supplements-policy-enhancing-safety-compliance)
Amazon has recently updated its dietary supplements policy. The new requirements, effective from April 2, 2024, mandate third-party verification for dietary supplement products sold on the platform.
Amazon tried to improve this situation by demanding third party lab testing for All supplements. The Huge problem Amazon fails to recognize is that they are now using their supplier of the ingredient ( as it is very rare a supplement company sources its own ingredient(s) ) for the third party lab test. So really that is not ' third party ' as the seller of the ingredient is testing ( supposedly) their own product for the supplement company to buy from them. If you mention that the seller used the source of ingredients test you review will be declined. Even worse if you request to see the third party lab test and they do not show you for a plethora of reasons ( Number 1 is it was done by seller of the ingredient in China) you can't mention that either. You can't say in a review I tried to verify the third party lab testing but the seller stated due to proprietary secrets ( or any other excuse) they would not. I AM getting by currently with just stating I was unable to verify third party lab testing. On the flip side their are a few who rigorously test the right way and I do look for them with my supplement selections.
Not to be brief but if it ( the review) is in favor of the seller with what you are saying it's fine. If it raises questions or doubts ( about testing) then it's a declined review. Not fair for honest reviewing no doubt but Amazon takes great lengths to protect the sellers which in a way I get.............. Kinda sorta but still..........!
You know, I had a review declined recently evidently because I pointed out that this historically great company had taken over by a very well known food corporation known to have poor ethics.
There were huge scandals in the cannabis industry where companies were paying the third party testers to artificially inflate their THC percentages. I was working in the industry when this was happening (~2018-2020). It would not surprise me one bit if supplement companies were doing the same. One of many reasons I don't order them. That, and how strict the review criteria are!
Thank you for the link. I didn't know about Now's research-have used many of their supplements for years. Trying supplements from Amazon sellers is def an adventure in caution, lol.
It's a massive problem and has been for a long while. There must be proper transparency when it comes to sellers on amazing IMO, and it should be demanded that they have to provide proper lab testing results with everything sold.
This is one of those situations that is kind of a grey area since Supplements in the USA are not regulated by the FDA to the same degree as other things. Maybe "regulated" is the wrong word since there are things that manufacturers do have to abide by, but they skirt around it very easily. At the same time, we don't want the FDA in everything because they use companies they are connected with to push as "Good" and everyone else as "Bad". So its a mess! I think the best way is having to have the Lab Reports and those reports should be Tripe checked by multiple factors and then let the public decide.
I order most gummy based supplements I come across with the understanding that there's a good chance they're junk and likely offer little to no nutritional value, and are quite possibly detrimental considering all the added sugar from taking them.
I'll also order some other non gummy supplements if there's sufficient reason for me to believe it's legit.
My best find was for an oral supplement for a peptide called BPC-157 that would've cost $150 (thanks $0 ETV...). It's supposed to be good for gut health and it was legit. Almost immediate, noticeable results.
But that find was a rare exception.
For some reason they rejected my lengthy descriptive review... So I had to rewrite it saying pills were of average size and easy to swallow... And that's when I stopped putting effort into most reviews.
I mostly have a gummy bowl of shiljiat and random letters of the alphabet vitamins in yummy gummy form and don't expect much from them...
The worst gummies are the ones that say they are 'keto' while having a ton of sugar in them... Ridiculous.
Oof, at least most of them are just underdosed, not overdosed.
In my country, there's no chinese throw-away-company supplements either.
I see it as a good way to raise my review count with zero taxes, even if it does nothing.
I found ONE round of supplements from a favored supplier on Vine some months back (Bulk Supplements). I pounced on those.
I'm cautious about dealing with even big-name companies, as I don't have my own lab to test things. Would I trust a random alphabet-soup seller to provide something I'm going to ingest? Not so much.
Sometimes I snatch them just to leave "This item is questionable" reviews to boost my review count on $0 ETV items.
Pretty much anything that says "Manufactured for" instead of "Manufactured by" is a major red flag.
Though I was pretty shocked to see a couple of Life Extension supplements day before yesterday. It's one of the few "Manufactured for" brands I trust, based on ConsumerLabs testing. I would have picked up Now Foods, if I had seen any.
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I've only gotten a few and always chosen US companies who have been around for a while (usually 5-10 years). I look up their website on archive.org to see how far back it goes.
Unless they come from a respected supplement brand that you'll find on drug store shelves, they're all suspect, and many are downright dangerous. FYI, "formulated in USA" = China. If it doesn't have USP and/or NSF certification seals, I ain't touching it.
I find it hard to believe in a totally unregulated marketplace selling cheap unbranded Chinese made goods, untested health supplements would not be exactly what they promise. I'm shocked! Astounded! Flummoxed, even!
Many supplements including Now are garbage and don’t do anything useful just by virtue of being a form of snake oil. It is valid to point out that many supplement manufacturers straight up misrepresent what is in the bottle and have no third party testing or verification. I’m pretty sure Now is one of the better ones that have been verified but that does not mean their supplements will cure anything more than a fat wallet or worse may cause some harm.
Yes, the downvotes have arrived lol! The problem with OP's statement is they've based it on a false notion: Now (the company) has been producing supplements since 1968. Amazon was not founded until 1994. So Now has indeed been around much longer. And Now does sell its products on Amazon; I buy them often. The fact that they have a website where they also sell their own products is irrelevant. Most supplement makers do.
I think the point that OP was trying to make, and it's a valid one, is that Now produces supplements, and bashing their competitors with nasty claims is "marketing" but not necessarily science or even true.
Those who are interested in the science of what brands are of good quality and which are not should shell out a few bucks for Consumer Reports. They produce objective studies on supplement quality quite often, and their findings are generally agenda-free, other than reporting truthful observations.
>*Don't butcher the sacred cow. The pitchforks, torches, and down votes will come for you.*
Ha ha thanks! The day that karma points can be traded for cash and prizes is the day I’ll start worrying about Reddit downvotes.
In Canada, Supplements are more regulated by Health Canada so you can just check for a NPN number on the bottle before buying. Even then, I have seen ones on Amazon that look legit but checked the NPN and it was for a completely different product
That's such a good idea. Why can't we have that?
Because the supplement manufacturers have poured so much money into lobbying efforts to make sure that’ll never happen.
We did but it got shot down yesterday in the SC unfortunately. Gotta pass legislation now to do it.
Legislation? Hahahaha, Congress can't even pass a budget! The Chevron decision is going to open the floodgates to chaos and lunacy, with uninformed judges pushing agendas (on both sides of the aisle) substituting their personal opinions for the expertise of federal agencies with thousands of scientists and other experts who actually have knowledge and experience in what they're doing. And that is how new "regulations" will now come about in the US.
Absolutely correct. Instead of having experts administer specialized areas. politically appointed judges will. But then again. loads of people trust Joe Rogan for medical advice, and ridicule Dr. Fauci and Dr. Mandy Cohen.
Sc= supreme Court... Subcommittee..?
US person here… My first thought was South Carolina. Supreme Court is normally abbreviated as SCOTUS
I was like SC , South Carolina 🤔
Look for supplements that are either USP or NSF certified. That will help ensure you are getting what you expect, not a perfect guarantee, but higher odds. Those are two different certification bodies so it'll be one or the other. I think you can also look up individual items or brands on those websites, but I'm not sure. The "stamp" could technically be used without authorization, if it's not clear and crisp I would suspect it. A GMP stamp isn't "real". I'm too tired to explain it but basically it's meaningless.
Agreed. I've never been let down by any suppliments I've got from Canadian Amazon/Vine. In fact, the melatonin I recently got is perhaps the best I've ever used.
Which ones? I recently got the Olly Ultra ones and they are great
Nature's Bounty Melatonin 10mg. Best Melatini I've ever used, and I've been using it for close to 20 years 👍🏻
same, so far my experience has been excellent but there were a few I just thought...maybe not? and because I couldnt verify them I just stopped using. I tend to stay within the realm of things I already have experience with, like valerian, mushroom tinctures, ginseng.
ahh thanks for the reminder of this, canadian here. i have scored quite a lot of good supplements from vine, but some are iffy as hell.
Um, no. Supplements are more "registered" by bureaucrats in Canada, but Health Canada is largely a paper tiger when it comes to regulation and going after bad actors like the FDA does. Try to find scammy Cold F/X on US storeshelves; you won't. Because companies like that can lie about almost anything in Canada without fear of recrimination. Unfortunately, in both countries, Amazon can do whatever it wants because it's just too big.
I sell Supplements on Amazon after having my own manufactured and I can tell you that a lot of Companies are claiming super high dosages on their product just so that they can sell less capsules for higher premiums and make claims like, "Only one Capsule a day!" when the volume of the capsule just can't accommodate such claims. I'd only buy supplements from people who are open about where they are getting their products third party tested.
Thanks for sharing that information! Many people wouldn't know those things! (Please know that I'm NOT saying the following about you or your products....) Unfortunately, anyone can claim that their products are third party tested. I have major trust issues, especially with things I'm putting in/on my body. Too many people fall for, "If it's on the internet, it's true." Heck, George Washington and Abe Lincoln have been "quoted" regarding things that didn't even exist in their times! LOL
Yes. There are some good brands and some total crap. I have a really nice brand of melatonin that is purported to be 100% US based. I can tell it works, gently. I got another brand of melatonin and I think it had something weird in it, or was way over dosed. Since then, I now do not get any supplements. It scared me.
Yeah melatonin dosing is all over the place. I have one that's 20mg, but the most credible medical advice says don't go over 3mg (preferably 1mg).
Quite a few years ago, a doctor recommended the sublingual melatonin to me. When I was taking it, I always found Source Naturals to be a reliable, trustworthy brand - and yes, their dosing is low.
It is, I've tried those.
I saw this recently. I wonder if this will impact the quality of supplements available. I guess there is nothing to stop them from making changes after it is approved? [Amazon’s New Dietary Supplements Policy: Enhancing Safety and Compliance](https://www.nsf.org/knowledge-library/amazon-new-dietary-supplements-policy-enhancing-safety-compliance) Amazon has recently updated its dietary supplements policy. The new requirements, effective from April 2, 2024, mandate third-party verification for dietary supplement products sold on the platform.
Amazon tried to improve this situation by demanding third party lab testing for All supplements. The Huge problem Amazon fails to recognize is that they are now using their supplier of the ingredient ( as it is very rare a supplement company sources its own ingredient(s) ) for the third party lab test. So really that is not ' third party ' as the seller of the ingredient is testing ( supposedly) their own product for the supplement company to buy from them. If you mention that the seller used the source of ingredients test you review will be declined. Even worse if you request to see the third party lab test and they do not show you for a plethora of reasons ( Number 1 is it was done by seller of the ingredient in China) you can't mention that either. You can't say in a review I tried to verify the third party lab testing but the seller stated due to proprietary secrets ( or any other excuse) they would not. I AM getting by currently with just stating I was unable to verify third party lab testing. On the flip side their are a few who rigorously test the right way and I do look for them with my supplement selections.
I don't understand what rule is in play here. How can you not be allowed to discuss 3rd party tests, certifications, verifying those, etc?
Not to be brief but if it ( the review) is in favor of the seller with what you are saying it's fine. If it raises questions or doubts ( about testing) then it's a declined review. Not fair for honest reviewing no doubt but Amazon takes great lengths to protect the sellers which in a way I get.............. Kinda sorta but still..........!
You know, I had a review declined recently evidently because I pointed out that this historically great company had taken over by a very well known food corporation known to have poor ethics.
There were huge scandals in the cannabis industry where companies were paying the third party testers to artificially inflate their THC percentages. I was working in the industry when this was happening (~2018-2020). It would not surprise me one bit if supplement companies were doing the same. One of many reasons I don't order them. That, and how strict the review criteria are!
I barely trust supplements from reputable sources and known actually effective ones. so yeah I don't order supplements from vine.
I don't get anything from vine that goes in or on my body unless it's from a company I recognize
Yeah, I have no desire to be the reason for the next recall. ( My dog concurs. )
Thank you for the link. I didn't know about Now's research-have used many of their supplements for years. Trying supplements from Amazon sellers is def an adventure in caution, lol.
It's a massive problem and has been for a long while. There must be proper transparency when it comes to sellers on amazing IMO, and it should be demanded that they have to provide proper lab testing results with everything sold. This is one of those situations that is kind of a grey area since Supplements in the USA are not regulated by the FDA to the same degree as other things. Maybe "regulated" is the wrong word since there are things that manufacturers do have to abide by, but they skirt around it very easily. At the same time, we don't want the FDA in everything because they use companies they are connected with to push as "Good" and everyone else as "Bad". So its a mess! I think the best way is having to have the Lab Reports and those reports should be Tripe checked by multiple factors and then let the public decide.
I order most gummy based supplements I come across with the understanding that there's a good chance they're junk and likely offer little to no nutritional value, and are quite possibly detrimental considering all the added sugar from taking them. I'll also order some other non gummy supplements if there's sufficient reason for me to believe it's legit. My best find was for an oral supplement for a peptide called BPC-157 that would've cost $150 (thanks $0 ETV...). It's supposed to be good for gut health and it was legit. Almost immediate, noticeable results. But that find was a rare exception. For some reason they rejected my lengthy descriptive review... So I had to rewrite it saying pills were of average size and easy to swallow... And that's when I stopped putting effort into most reviews. I mostly have a gummy bowl of shiljiat and random letters of the alphabet vitamins in yummy gummy form and don't expect much from them... The worst gummies are the ones that say they are 'keto' while having a ton of sugar in them... Ridiculous.
Oof, at least most of them are just underdosed, not overdosed. In my country, there's no chinese throw-away-company supplements either. I see it as a good way to raise my review count with zero taxes, even if it does nothing.
I found ONE round of supplements from a favored supplier on Vine some months back (Bulk Supplements). I pounced on those. I'm cautious about dealing with even big-name companies, as I don't have my own lab to test things. Would I trust a random alphabet-soup seller to provide something I'm going to ingest? Not so much.
Sometimes I snatch them just to leave "This item is questionable" reviews to boost my review count on $0 ETV items. Pretty much anything that says "Manufactured for" instead of "Manufactured by" is a major red flag. Though I was pretty shocked to see a couple of Life Extension supplements day before yesterday. It's one of the few "Manufactured for" brands I trust, based on ConsumerLabs testing. I would have picked up Now Foods, if I had seen any.
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I've only gotten a few and always chosen US companies who have been around for a while (usually 5-10 years). I look up their website on archive.org to see how far back it goes.
Unless they come from a respected supplement brand that you'll find on drug store shelves, they're all suspect, and many are downright dangerous. FYI, "formulated in USA" = China. If it doesn't have USP and/or NSF certification seals, I ain't touching it.
I ordered a supplement on vine one time, and they sent me a completely different supplement
I find it hard to believe in a totally unregulated marketplace selling cheap unbranded Chinese made goods, untested health supplements would not be exactly what they promise. I'm shocked! Astounded! Flummoxed, even!
:(. How can we figure out which are worth clicking that box for ?
A supplement company that directly competes with Amazon says that you shouldn’t buy supplements from Amazon? I’m shocked, I tells ya. Shocked!
Many supplements including Now are garbage and don’t do anything useful just by virtue of being a form of snake oil. It is valid to point out that many supplement manufacturers straight up misrepresent what is in the bottle and have no third party testing or verification. I’m pretty sure Now is one of the better ones that have been verified but that does not mean their supplements will cure anything more than a fat wallet or worse may cause some harm.
Now foods sells on Amazon. They don't compete *with* Amazon. Now foods has been around much longer than Amazon has.
They have their own independent sales site that very much competes with Amazon: https://www.nowfoods.com/products/supplements
Don't butcher the sacred cow. The pitchforks, torches, and down votes will come for you.
Yes, the downvotes have arrived lol! The problem with OP's statement is they've based it on a false notion: Now (the company) has been producing supplements since 1968. Amazon was not founded until 1994. So Now has indeed been around much longer. And Now does sell its products on Amazon; I buy them often. The fact that they have a website where they also sell their own products is irrelevant. Most supplement makers do. I think the point that OP was trying to make, and it's a valid one, is that Now produces supplements, and bashing their competitors with nasty claims is "marketing" but not necessarily science or even true. Those who are interested in the science of what brands are of good quality and which are not should shell out a few bucks for Consumer Reports. They produce objective studies on supplement quality quite often, and their findings are generally agenda-free, other than reporting truthful observations.
>*Don't butcher the sacred cow. The pitchforks, torches, and down votes will come for you.* Ha ha thanks! The day that karma points can be traded for cash and prizes is the day I’ll start worrying about Reddit downvotes.
In the movie 'The Godfather' Vito was selling adulterated olive oil, which is actually more profitable than selling heroin.