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Who’s checking if your vitamins and supplements are safe?

Alice arrived in Wonderland and promptly downed a vial that said “drink me,” and we can probably all agree she was being a bit of an idiot. Magical land or not, she’s a child, she has no idea where that conveniently placed tube came from, and come on—“drink me”? That’s in the textbook definition of “gullible.”

But if we’re being honest, is taking a supplement you bought at the drug store any smarter?

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Featured

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With the government abdicating its responsibility to ensure that dietary supplements are all they're cracked up to be, the door is wide open for LabDoor, a service that promises to bring the facts.

 Are Your Supplements Safe? Here's How to Tell

Fish oil, and green tea, and vitamin D – oh my! With so many supplements constantly flooding the market, how can you tell which ones are the best for you? Which ones are safe? Which brand should you choose?

 The Stuff Legally Allowed in Your Bottle of Supplements is Alarming as Hell

"People don't want prescription medicine, but they'll take an unregulated substance that is misrepresented with bad labeling."

Articles of Interest

Dietary Supplements Are Doing Much More Measurable Harm Than Good

An authoritative new study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine and led by scientists from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides a disturbing look at the world of dietary supplements. It turns out that supplements—especially those marketed for weight loss and energy enhancement—lead to around 23,000 emergency room visits a year. And more than a quarter of these visits are by people aged 20 to 34, a disproportionately large number. They visit the ER complaining of nasty symptoms like chest pain, heart palpitations, and irregular heart rhythms. The study covered a large network of hospitals around the country over a 10-year period.

Are Supplements Killing You? The Problem With Vitamins, Minerals

In two recently published studies, researchers suggest that supplements can do more harm than good if taken in addition to a healthy diet.

Are we Overdosing on Health and Beauty Supplements?

There was a time when grocery lists entailed bread, milk, green vegetables, chicken, and eggs. Now, however, the average shopping cart is a curated arsenal of biohacking essentials — collagen and biotin gummies, pre- and probiotic gut-health drinks, melatonin melts, protein powders, and a plethora of vitamin and mineral capsules that promise a healthy life ahead. But are we going overdoing it to the point where it can be unhealthy? Here’s what the experts have to say.

Harmful effects of supplements can send you to the emergency department

For many people, a healthy lifestyle means more than eating a good diet and getting enough exercise — vitamins, supplements, and complementary nutritional products are also part of the plan. But though there is much publicity about their potential benefits, there is less awareness of their possible harmful effects. In fact, using these products can land you in the emergency department.

How Your Supplements Interact With Prescription Drugs

St. John’s Wort, lavender, garlic and others can alter drug potency, cause side effects.

It’s Possible To Get Too Much Of These 5 Essential Nutrients

We’ve all been schooled about the unhealthy things we should limit, like sugar and sodium. But there are also some healthy things that, in excess, can do more harm than good. In other words, even when a nutrient is vital, more isn’t necessarily better. Here are the risks associated with going overboard on five key nutrients — some of them may take you by surprise.

Liver problems linked to supplement use are on the rise—here’s why

The supplement industry is booming—but so are serious health issues tied to taking these pills and powders. Here’s what experts say you need to watch out for.

Skip the Supplements

But the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t regulate dietary supplements as drugs — they aren’t tested for safety and efficacy before they’re sold. Many aren’t made according to minimal standards of manufacturing (the F.D.A. has even found some of the facilities where supplements are made to be contaminated with rodent feces and urine). And many are mislabeled, accidentally or intentionally. They often aren’t what they say they are.

The $37 billion supplement industry is barely regulated — and it's allowing dangerous products to slip through the cracks

"Consumers should expect nothing from [supplements] because we don't have any clear evidence that they're beneficial, and they should be leery that they could be putting themselves at risk," S. Bryn Austin, a professor of behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Business Insider. "Whether it's on the bottle or not, there can be ingredients in there that can do harm." Despite many such warnings, the supplement industry's market is as much as $37 billion a year, according to one estimate.

The hidden drugs in your favorite supplements

When you take a prescription drug in the United States, you can be reasonably sure of what's in it. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that all pharmaceuticals be thoroughly tested in humans, that they contain whatever ingredients are listed on the label, and that they have evidence to back their marketing claims. Unfortunately, the same isn't true for dietary supplements.

The Illegal Ingredients in Your Dietary Supplements

Consumers are taking dietary supplements with illegal—and potentially harmful—ingredients, a growing body of evidence shows. A new study published online in JAMA Internal Medicine this week found experimental stimulants in dietary supplements both before and after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued public warnings about the stimulants.

Those Supplements You’re Taking Might Be Ruining Your Liver

Look at you, all smug as you scarf down a fistful of dietary supplements every day. You’re just like 75 percent of adults who take some kind of supplement daily, according to a 2024 poll from the Council of Responsible Nutrition. Well, I bet you’re not gonna be so smug when you find out that all of those supplements might be damaging your liver.

What's really in your supplements?

As consumers, we'd like to think that the vitamins and supplements we buy are effective and safe. In reality, this isn't always the case. Labdoor is an independent company that tests supplements. We find out whether products have what they claim and if they have any harmful ingredients or contaminants. Then, we grade and rank those products, write reports, and publish that information for free, so consumers can confidently buy the best supplements for their health.

What’s in Those Supplements?

The authorities said they had run tests on popular store brands of herbal supplements at the retailers — Walmart, Walgreens, Target and GNC — which showed that roughly four out of five of the products contained none of the herbs listed on their labels.

Resources

7 Popular Supplements That May Have Hidden Dangers

Healthy or risky? Here’s what you need to know about possible harmful effects before you pop that vitamin, mineral, or herbal pill.