[Magdalen] a question you should never ask at Walmart

[Jim Guthrie]

From: ME Michaud

"Where's the miso?"

And you definitely don’t want the ginkgo biloba, either:

At Walmart, the authorities found that its ginkgo biloba, a Chinese plant
promoted as a memory enhancer, contained little more than powdered radish,
houseplants and wheat — despite a claim on the label that the product was wheat-
and gluten-free.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/new-york-attorney-general-targets-supplements-at-major-retailers

Cheers,
Jim

Here's the entire story:

The New York State attorney general’s office accused four major retailers on
Monday of selling fraudulent and potentially dangerous herbal supplements and
demanded that they remove the products from their shelves.

The authorities said they had conducted tests on top-selling store brands of
herbal supplements at four national retailers — GNC, Target, Walgreens and
Walmart — and found that four out of five of the products did not contain any of
the herbs on their labels. The tests showed that pills labeled medicinal herbs
often contained little more than cheap fillers like powdered rice, asparagus and
houseplants, and in some cases substances that could be dangerous to those with
allergies.

The investigation came as a welcome surprise to health experts who have long
complained about the quality and safety of dietary supplements, which are exempt
from the strict regulatory oversight applied to prescription drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration has targeted individual supplements found to
contain dangerous ingredients. But the announcement Monday was the first time
that a law enforcement agency had threatened the biggest retail and drugstore
chains with legal action for selling what it said were deliberately misleading
herbal products.

Among the attorney general’s findings was a popular store brand of ginseng pills
at Walgreens, promoted for “physical endurance and vitality,” that contained
only powdered garlic and rice. At Walmart, the authorities found that its ginkgo
biloba, a Chinese plant promoted as a memory enhancer, contained little more
than powdered radish, houseplants and wheat — despite a claim on the label that
the product was wheat- and gluten-free.

Three out of six herbal products at Target — ginkgo biloba, St. John’s wort and
valerian root, a sleep aid — tested negative for the herbs on their labels. But
they did contain powdered rice, beans, peas and wild carrots. And at GNC, the
agency said, it found pills with unlisted ingredients used as fillers, like
powdered legumes, the class of plants that includes peanuts and soybeans, a
hazard for people with allergies.

The attorney general sent the four retailers cease-and-desist letters on Monday
and demanded that they explain what procedures they use to verify the
ingredients in their supplements