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NEW YORK — The New York state attorney general’s office has reportedly subpoenaed Walmart, Walgreen Co., Target Corp. and GNC to substantiate claims for dietary supplements in their stores in the state.
The New York state attorney general’s office has reportedly subpoenaed Walmart, Walgreen Co., Target Corp. and GNC to substantiate claims for dietary supplements in their stores in the state.
Subpoenas were issued by the office of state attorney general Eric Schneiderman as part of an investigation into the retailers’ private label herbal supplements, The New York Times reported.
Schneiderman’s office earlier demanded that the chains stop selling certain store brand supplements because DNA testing revealed discrepancies with ingredients listed on their labels. Schneiderman said he ordered removal of the products — which include echinacea, ginseng, St. John’s wort and others — because they couldn’t be proven to contain the labeled substance or were found to have ingredients not included on their labels.
DNA barcode testing found that 21% of products had DNA from the plants listed on their labels, with 79% coming up empty for DNA related to the labeled content or having contamination from other plant material. The office reported that 35% of the product tests identified DNA barcodes from plant species not listed on labels, indicating contaminants and fillers. Contaminants included rice, beans, pine, citrus, asparagus, primrose, wheat, houseplant and wild carrot, among others.
Walgreens, which pulled the products off shelves nationwide, said in a statement, "We take these issues very seriously," adding, "We intend to continue cooperating."
Walmart said it had provided hundreds of pages to answer questions about the products.
Target said it had been in touch with the attorney general and would continue to cooperate.
GNC said it had provided test results demonstrating its products were "pure, safe and fully compliant," according to the Times. A company spokeswoman added, "The attorney general has refused to provide us access to his test results, and therefore we cannot comment on the allegations in this subpoena."
