Please understand this is not an anger issue with me. It is a health issue. It is a safety issue. For those of you who have not followed this issue, please let me give you a brief summary:
I started purchasing nootropics in bulk this past Spring online from smi2le.biz and from 1fast400 (among a couple other mass retailers). I felt a bit uncomfortable ingesting some of these (at the time I thought they were) "mystery powders." So, I made an effort to communicate my concerns with Mike, the owner of smi2le.biz. He told me he would give me store credit at his site in exchange for the costs of the tests. I made the exact same offer to the owner of 1fast400, Mr. McClandless, and I was given the reply by David Tolson lied outright here, expecting us to be so lazy not to do the simple fact checking corroborations:
Click here for the evidenceJun 19, 2004:
While offering to pay for independent testing is good from a business standpoint for a small, nonestablished company, it isn't really for a bigger company like 1Fast/BN, as we would just be paying for testing for a product that we already know is pure. We already get many of the powders tested by a third party to begin with (any time the purity is in question). Mike has also paid for independent testing of many other supplements from other supplement companies, most of which we sell (see http://www.labelclaimstesting.com). There is certainly a lot more quality control going on than most of the competitors: products are tested by a third party before they are sold. And, just try asking BAC for a COA. Not saying there aren't plenty of good reasons to support a company that offers to pay for testing, and also to support small/growing businesses, I just think that 1fast has helped a lot in establishing more integrity in the industry, which shouldn't be discounted either.
My reply:
We in the eyes of the public, is not "us." If indeed 1fast400 already pays for independent third party verification of quality and freedom from contaminants, then this should be well documented and the results should be available to the consumer. BUT-- then how and where can the consumer verify that these "tests" take place and that what is tested is what is purchased?
A "third party" is one not affiliated with the profiting party; clearly there exists a conflict of interest.
Here I offer my own funds to verify the claims of any nootropic that I purchase off of the internet, in exchange for product. I consider myself trusted in these forums, because I have proven that I have no affiliation with any of the supplement providers. If 1fast400 wants to offer me product for the amount of third party tests, I will be pleased to submit a random sample and share the results here and at any other supplement forum. It is my firm belief that consumer oriented third party testing would bring about enormous confidence in the respective company that offers this opportunity to the consumer, granted s/he is trusted not to be affiliated with any profiting party; thus it is in their best interest to offer this opportunity.
After researching the labelclaimstesting site and finding out that it is bogus (they have only 1 HPLC assay and most assays are cereal/protein bars); no nootroics were assayed.
After just a little more research, I found that 1fast400 has shipped out falsely labeled products to their customers. In fact, Mr. McClandless admitted that he did not do so much as glance at the product before shipping it out. Now I cannot find a quality control algorithm with a poorer defect than that.
It has recently come to our attention that a raw material supplier has sent us
L-Carnitine instead of ALCAR. While labeled as such, with a lab assay included,
it seems someone made a big mistake. This includes myself. I foolishly trusted
this company. I did not inspect the material personally, which I should have.
SourceThis admission clearly proves that Mr. McClandless's sources are not credible. And consider the fact that he won't allow his own customers to merely verify that his products are as advertised in exchange for store credit.
What is important about consumer oriented purity checks is that it gives us a way to verify to hold our sources accountable and pressures them to bring the highest quality product to market. No accountability = less respect for the customer = lower standards = bad business.
I have a lot of work to do this weekend, so I have to go.
Take care.