Why “Lab-Tested” Is One of the Supplement Industry’s Biggest Scams
If you’ve shopped for supplements in recent years, you’ve probably seen phrases like these on bottles, banners, and product pages all over the internet: “lab tested,” “third-party tested,” and “third-party certified.” Why are these so commonplace? The supplement industry has a long history of shenanigans—underdosing, mislabeling ingredients, using low-quality forms of ingredients, and so on. Consumers have rightfully become incredulous about supplement claims, and so many brands responded by paying independent labs to test their products. This allows the brand to claim their products are “third-party tested” and even include the lab’s logo on their packaging. Generally, these results are published in what’s referred to as a Certificate of Analysis (COA)—a document from the lab confirming the product is free of contaminants and contains what the label claims at the doses listed. For many brands, this is one of their strongest selling points. “We aren’t like the other guys—all of ou...