Top 24 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 24 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 24 WORST SUPPLEMENT SCAMS 2009
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
5. Oprah Sues 40 Supplement Companies
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:
- genius@supplementgenius.com
- http://www.Twitter.com/WelchScott
- http://www.Facebook.com/Scott.Welch1
Detour Bar Bankrupt?
February 18, 2009
Detour bankrupt? How can this be? Well Forward Foods (makers of the Detour energy bars) filed for bankruptcy protection after a tainted peanut recall by its supplier, Peanut Corp of America, forced its own product recall on fears of salmonella poisoning! Forward Foods which makes protein bars primarily under the Detour name, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection saying that a significant amount of its inventory must be condemned. The company had voluntarily recalled all Detour bars that contained roasted peanuts from Peanut Corp on worries the supplier had distributed peanut products contaminated by salmonella. Sales of Detour products containing peanut product from Peanut Corp made up about 75 percent of their protein bar sale.
Forward Foods
Nevada-based Forward Foods is primarily owned by private equity firm Emigrant Capital Corp. It employs 52 people and regularly hires an additional 25 temporary workers. They had both assets and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million, it said in the filing.
Next Proteins Still Involved?
What I also found interesting is that the press release on this bankruptcy lists “CIT Group/Commercial Services Inc.” and “Next Proteins Inc.” as the largest unsecured creditors for Forward Foods, according to court documents. I knew several years back that David Jenkins (owner of Next Proteins) sold his Detour bar division off to Forward Foods but I thought it was a clean break and he would not have any involvement once it sold. In looking back at the original press release (click HERE to read it), I guess he and his company were still tied to Forward Foods. To quote the original release:
“…Jenkins will also maintain an investment stake in Forward Foods and will continue to have a role in the company’s product development, as well as whey research and education initiatives.”
I’m not sure if that situation changed since the initial company sale or if this bankruptcy will affect Next Proteins but time will tell I’m sure.
To read more about the protein bar recall click HERE.
SOURCE: YAHOO NEWS
New Probiotic Cereal Bars
January 27, 2009
With all the negative press about the protein bar recall, we’ve been flooded with web traffic beyond belief! We were actually the first website to report on only the protein bars that had been recalled and Google rewarded us by placing us in 4 of the top 5 hits on this topic! Today we actually broke a record for the most web traffic we’ve ever had. Our second most popular post was the one we did at the end of the summer when it was announced that Optimum Nutrition had sold their company to Glanbia. Well now, let’s get on to new product launches! Toronto based Sunny Crunch Foods has launched Probiotic Chewy Cereal Bars which are probiotic cereal bars that require no refrigeration and are made with whole oats and evaporated cane juice. They are made with the patented probiotic “GandenBC30″ and have 5 grams of fiber, 2 grams of protein, prebiotics, Omega-3 fatty acids and only 110 calories. The new bars come in four flavors: cranberry, strawberry, peanut and almond.
SOURCE: Natural Products Marketplace
GNC Triflex Recall
January 25, 2009
GNC has announced that it is initiating a voluntary recall of certain lots of its GNC Triflex Peanut Butter Soft Chews. This recall involves only GNC Triflex Peanut Butter Soft Chews with lot numbers ending in 8275 and 8255. The product’s ten digit lot number can be found on the bottom of the product’s package. No other GNC brand products have been impacted by the recall. This is in response to the widening recall involving peanut butter and peanut paste ingredients manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). PCA is the focus of a current investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concerning possible salmonella contamination in its peanut butter. PCA was a peanut butter ingredient supplier to Primrose Candy Company, the company that manufactures this product for GNC.
What Is Salmonella?
Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
Protein Bar Recalls
Many protein bars have also been recalled due to a possible contamination. Click HERE for more information.
SOURCE: FDA
More Protein Bar Recalls
January 25, 2009
The protein bar recall is spreading more and more throughout North America. I even spoke with a supplement distributor in Europe Friday and he’s very concerned as they’ve been carrying peanut-flavored protein bars made in the U.S. for some time now. There are so many companies affected by this recall because many protein bars are made at only a few manufacturing plants. If one of these plants bought their peanut paste or peanut products from the contaminated source, all the peanut flavored bars they make for companies could be contaminated!
More Contaminated Bars?
The following is an updated list of recalled protein bars but we expect this list to grow. Check in with us every few days as we update the list.
Supreme Protein Bars- NutriSystem Inc. Peanut Butter Granola Bar, sold on its Web site but not in retail stores.
- Premier Nutrition is recalling select Twisted and Titan brand nutrition bars that contain peanut butter
- Nature’s Path Organic Foods is recalling peanut butter-flavored Optimum Energy Bars.
General Mills is recalling Lara Bars and JamFrakas made with peanut butter.- Clif Bar recalled: Clif Bar, Clif Builders, Clif Kids, Mojo, and Luna bars made with peanut butter.
- Abbott Nutrition recalled ZonePerfect Chocolate Peanut Butter bars, ZonePerfect Peanut Toffee bars and NutriPals Peanut Butter Chocolate nutrition bars.
- NUTRILITE Energy Bars
- Chef Jay:
- Peanut Butter Tri-O-Plex Duo Bar (100 gram)
- Peanut Butter Tri-O-Plex Cookie (85 gram)
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Tri-O-Plex Cookie (85 gram)
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Tri-O-Plex Lite Bites Cookie (57 gram)
- Peanut Butter Tri-O-Plex Brownie (85 gram).
To see each recall, click on the company name on each line above. For a detailed list of all recalls, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Protein Bar Recall
January 22, 2009
There’s a massive protein bar recall that you’ve gotta pay attention to. Unfortunately, there’s a massive salmonella outbreak involving peanut butter products and peanut butter paste that has now climbed to 486 people affected, with possibly 6 deaths! The outbreak had been traced to a plant in Blakely, Georgia, owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Many food products have been affected but the following is a list of the latest protein bars that have been recalled but click HERE to see a more current list.
NutriSystem Inc. Peanut Butter Granola Bar, sold on its Web site but not in retail stores. - Premier Nutrition is recalling select Twisted and Titan brand nutrition bars that contain peanut butter
Nature’s Path Organic Foods is recalling peanut butter-flavored Optimum Energy Bars.- General Mills is recalling Lara Bars and JamFrakas made with peanut butter.
Clif Bar recalled: Clif Bar, Clif Builders, Clif Kids, Mojo, and Luna bars made with peanut butter.- Abbott Nutrition recalled ZonePerfect Chocolate Peanut Butter bars, ZonePerfect Peanut Toffee bars and NutriPals Peanut Butter Chocolate nutrition bars.
To see each recall, click on the company name on each line above. For a detailed list of all recalls, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
SOURCE: Wahington Post