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Top 25 Worst Supplement Scams 2009

September 15, 2009

By:  Scott Welch BASc (Nutrition), CAAP (Advertising)

Over the last 15 years, I’ve worked for close to 20 of the top dietary supplement companies in the industry. To say I’m an “industry insider” is an understatement! I am THE industry Insider. You name the company, I’ve worked there or have friends who have. Over my career, I’ve travelled all over the world, met nearly every top fitness expert (yes, that’s me with Arnold) and have made literally millions of dollars along the way!

Is Scott Welch REALLY A Genius?

Yes, but a genius of only one thing - SUPPLEMENTS! The dietary supplement industry is truly all I know, all I have passion to learn about and the only field I see myself working in. If you came over to my house, you’d be more than convinced that I’m a supplement nut as my crib looks like a giant GNC store! There’s hardly a supplement I haven’t tried because one of the perks of my job is testing out supplements long before they’re released to the public.

The Scams I’ve Seen In The Supplement Battlefield

I’ve witnessed supplement scams that you wouldn’t believe unless you saw them for yourself! Steel bolts like the ones on the left being thrown into protein powder, maggots in protein bars, steroids added to supplements to make them work better, fake lab tests, doctors endorsing products they’ve never even tried, and even supplements laced with recreational drugs - I’ve seen it all!

Scams I’ve Seen This Year

To give you a taste of the scams I’ve exposed this year alone, I’ve put together a list of the top 25 worst supplement scams of 2009. Remember, this is just what I’ve uncovered this year! Here are some of the scams you’re about to be exposed to:

  • Wanna know which supplement company had employees threaten to kill an FDA agent? This same company manufactured phony ecstasy tablets that were sold on U.S. streets!
  • Wanna know which supplement caused Philadelphia Phillies pitcher J.C. Romero to fail a drug test?
  • Wanna find out which supplement company CEO got 25 years of jail time?
  • Do you know which NFL football player sued a Hollywood celebrity, GNC and Vitamin Shoppe at the same time?
  • Did you eat any of the protein bars that were contaminated with salmonella? One company recalled so many of these contaminated bars that they went bankrupt afterwards!
  • Did you know that Oprah Winfrey sued 40 supplement companies at once?

Below are the links to these and other shocking scams you won’t believe.

TOP 25 WORST SUPPLEMENT SCAMS 2009

25.  Olympics Hopeful Fails Drug Test

24.  Multivitamin Contains “Extra” Ingredients

23.  Supplement Company Gets Caught Selling Human Placenta

22.  Does Tribulus REALLY Work?

21.  Glucosamine & Chondroitin Ineffective

20.  Amphetamines Found In Supplements

19.  Diet Pills Spiked With Prescription Drugs

18.  Rite Aid To Pay $500,000 Fine

17.  American Cellular Labs Raid

16.  1 in 10 Supplements Contaminated With Steroids

15.  Supplement Causes J.C. Romero To Fail Drug Test

14.  Creatine Ethyl Ester Scam Exposed

13.  Melamine Found In Protein Powder

12.  74 Supplement Companies Get Hit

11.  200 Poisoned by Vitamin Supplements

10.  Metabolife CEO Sent To Prison

9.  BSN Lawsuit

8.  Supplement Company Selling Oregano Forced To Pay $25 Million Dollars

7.  NFL Player Sues Nikki Haskell, GNC, Great Earth, Vitamin Shoppe and more

6.  SNURF Hospitalizes 4 Teens

5.  Oprah Sues 40 Supplement Companies

4.  Protein Bar Recalls

3.  Airborne To Pay $30 Million Fine

2.  Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals Lawsuit

1.  Owner Of Enzyte Gets 25 Years In Prison

SCOTT WELCH CONTACT INFO:

Written by Scott Welch, Supplement Genius · Filed Under Supplement Gossip 
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Comments

3 Responses to “Top 25 Worst Supplement Scams 2009”

  1. hyp_gnosis on September 15th, 2009 5:56 pm

    Hi Scott,

    Based upon the definition of a scam by Webster’s Online dictionary:

    * Main Entry: scam
    * Pronunciation: \ˈskam\
    * Function: noun
    * Etymology: origin unknown
    * Date: 1963

    : a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation

    I wouldn’t classify the Salmonella outbreak as a scam.

    The FDA haven’t stipulated that there was any fraudulent activity in the report - http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/MajorProductRecalls/Peanut/FDA%E2%80%99sInvestigation/default.htm

    From what I can determine a voluntary recall was requested and PCA refused to abide by the request, resulting in the FDA taking a stronger approach.

    Correct me if I’m wrong here, as I don’t reside in the US.

    Lastly, I still don’t agree with listing Tribulus as a scam either. Maybe the claims relating to Tribulus might be dubious but I don’t believe we have seen studies detailing the specific physiological actions of protodisocin in a high dose extract.

    Keep up the good work!

    Cheers,

    Hyp_gnosis

  2. admin on September 16th, 2009 6:22 pm

    nice post and we hope the best

  3. frank on September 18th, 2009 9:44 am

    Although I admire your efforts…

    I think you have taken this a bit too far.

    There are lots of good supplement companies out there, there are always some bad apples in the bunch, no matter what industry.

    If your buying “dietary supplements” from china town, you need to give your head a shake.

    protein bar contamination… that affected LOTS of other companies far bigger than this company.

    and no offense, but even using a pic with Arnold, your doing no different trying to use “social proof” that your connected, than all the acai companies relating Oprah to their products.

    just seems your trying to use the same marketing the companies your accusing, to boost your own readership. get my drift?

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