LONGECITY

Hey there,

I've stumbled across several reddit posts citing studies according to which the vast majority of supplements are fake. Including top sellers on Amazon. How bad is the situation really? As someone who recently bought a bunch of basic supplements from Amazon Germany top sellers(talking amongst the first few results, with 200+ monthly sales and 4.5+ rating. Stuff like Krill oil, multivitamin, Vitamin E) I'm wondering if I can basically ditch them because they contain god knows what, but not the things that they're supposed to contain? The brands are no-name to my ears, I simply assumed them to be good due to high sales and ratings. Was that naive?

Perhaps we should start a resource page/thread here at LongeCity to highlight trustworthy brands (and highlight the poor, fake, or dangerous brands).

Few links to supplement rankings in this thread

https://www.longecit...plement-brands/

Thorne, Pure, Integrative Therapeutics, Jarrow, Douglas Laboratories,  Life Extension, Natural Factors, Rosita, Virgin, Nordic Naturals, Doctors Best, Sports Research, Solgar, and Now are good brands

Life Extension - vit D/K2

Virgin - Cod liver oil

igennus - time release B

Jigsaw - multimineral

aussie trace minerals

solray - time release C

Jarrow - famil E

Blue Bonnet calc/mag/potassium

Life Extension - Cognitex

Jarrow - milk thistle

Natural Factors - Lutein

Life Extension curcumin

Alive by Science - NMN liposomal gel

Isn't the fda supposed to monitor all that and hand out punishments for violations? Or has the fda become just another wasteful and ineffective govt agency? Maybe they are paid to look the other way? Corruption has become endemic among the political class. I don't see why private citizens have to pay to analyze supplements when the fda is sucking up billions of tax dollars and not doing the job.

A little off topic but the fda and corruption go hand in hand. The head of the fda always seems to be a former pharma exec or else they get a sweet high paying job with pfizer or someplace soon as they leave the department. At the same time big pharma seems to have no problem getting questionable items approved, for example aspartame being allowed in food and having a gras rating. 

Several companies were sold to new owners in the last few years, I think Thorne and Dr's Best were among them. So I'm not sure about their quality anymore.

I usually buy LE and Natural Factors, but I don't have proof of their quality. Most companies, if not all, source their raw materials from china.

Did any one try Bestvite?

     I wouldn't buy anything from Best Vite.  Now Foods in 2023 tested Bromelain from Best Vite and also from other brands on Amazon, and Best Vite was among those that failed the test.  
Here's the link to see those results:   https://www.nowfoods...urchased-amazon
Also a link to NOW's results for other supplements and brands:     https://www.nowfoods...nds-sold-amazon

Now Foods in 2023 tested Bromelain from Best Vite and also from other brands on Amazon, and Best Vite was among those that failed the test.  
Here's the link to see those results:   https://www.nowfoods...urchased-amazon
Also a link to NOW's results for other supplements and brands:     https://www.nowfoods...nds-sold-amazon

Very interesting. Turns out the brand of bromelain I recently purchased from Amazon UK only contains 2% of the bromelain stated on the label.

I think I will write to Amazon and ask for a refund. 

I imagine this issue of capsules only containing a small fraction of the stated dose applies to many other supplement products sold by Amazon. 

Presumably Amazon would be liable for selling products which do not match their description. Someone needs to bring a class action lawsuit against them.