Label Transparency: Are You Being Deceived?

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The Pure TheraPro Team

The Pure TheraPro Education Team is comprised of researchers from diverse backgrounds including nutrition, functional medicine, fitness, supplement formulation & food science. All articles have been reviewed for content, accuracy, and compliance by a holistic integrative nutritionist certified by an accredited institution.
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Approximately 77% of Americans take dietary supplements. The supplement market is growing, and more people are looking toward natural products to help optimize their health.

With so many products and supplement companies in the marketplace today, however, consumers are trying to navigate the landscape of transparency and reading labels. They’re interested in researching ingredients, uncovering the sourcing and how products are made as well as the products’ impact on the environment. Consumers want transparency, and they are concerned about product purity.

 

 

Why is transparency important? Between 2007 and 2019, over 950 products were tested by the FDA and found to include hidden ingredients not listed on the products’ labels. These ingredients also posed potential health risks to consumers. Many of these products fell into the niched supplement categories of weight loss products, sexual enhancement and muscle building and development.  

As of July 2011, over 60% of dietary supplement ingredients sold in the United States were imported from China. Raw materials from China are less expensive, and many companies look for ways to cut corners and increase their profit margin.

The FDA allows questionable fillers and binders such as magnesium stearate, chemical dyes, sodium benzoate, dextrose and propylene glycol to name only a few. Studies show that some of these ingredients can be toxic at certain levels with prolonged use.

Raw materials may be in the supplement at 90% or less of the listed ingredients—many companies also include fillers, such as corn starch and lactose to fill the capsules. These fillers reduce the manufacturing cost of the product, can interfere with bioavailability and are known allergens for some people.

For some consumers, fillers, excipients and flow agents can cause digestive disturbances, and over time, may even weaken immune function. Companies invested in creating products promoting health and wellness should adhere to product integrity and not cut costs by adding these fillers to their product line.

 

 

The bottom line is that supplement companies should be upfront and honest with their consumers. This is what transparency is all about! Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Aside from some nutritional and dietary supplement companies including ingredients such as fillers, excipients and flow agents in their product or choosing less expensive ingredients than what they claim, they might also make statements on their label that are misleading or difficult to interpret. Telling a half truth, misleading consumers and exaggerating information are not examples of transparency. 

Transparency means being completely honest and upfront with consumers, and it turns out, this is exactly what consumers want! A 2018 study by the Food Manufacturers Institute in partnership with Label Insight found that consumers are leaning more and more toward complete transparency when shopping for a particular product. In fact, 93% of consumers prefer as many details as possible regarding a particular product, including manufacturing practices and sourcing. In 2016, 39% of consumers stated that they would switch brands from the one they regularly purchase if the competitor brand provided more transparent labeling and in-depth information regarding their product. When polled in 2018, this number increased to 74%, showing a dramatic increase in consumers wanting more information and transparency. 

In spite of the surge in public researching, and consumers comparing labels and being educated buyers in the supplement market, many report being more confused than ever. Labels may contain information that is deceptive in its presentation. This is why it's important to find a supplement company that believes in total transparency. Look for a company that tells it all without obscuring or manipulating the information. 

 

 

Take our Optimum Magnesium, for example. If you look at our label, you will see that we practice complete transparency in listing the ingredients utilized in creating the elemental amount of magnesium (250 mg per serving size). The Malic Acid in our formulation (830 mg) is utilized to create the 250 mg of bioavailable magnesium (Magnesium Malate and Magnesium Glycinate) in two capsules. 

Some companies may confuse consumers by using the ingredients utilized in creating the final product as part of their combined total magnesium amount, inflating the actual amount of magnesium in their supplement. Be sure when reading a magnesium supplement label, that you are looking at the elemental amount, as this is what the body utilizes and the true amount of magnesium in the supplement. Transparency in the label means showing both--what's utilized in order to create the final product as well as the elemental amount, as ours does above.

Transparency means that consumers clearly understand what they’re getting. False claims, hiding ingredients or misleading information about the amount of raw materials in a particular product is not an honest practice. Supplement companies can only build true brand loyalty by developing a personal relationship with its consumers that is built on trust and loyalty. This is pure and healthy, which should be the foundation of any company promoting health and wellness. 

 

 Here, on our OncoProtect ES bottle, you will notice that the ingredients utilized to create the actual amounts of glucoraphanin and myrosinase are listed on our label. The actual amount of each ingredient is also shown in milligrams. Nothing is inflated. There is no deception--what is listed on our product label is in our product. 

Our formulation contains the highest amount of glucoraphanin and myrosinase combined currently on the market today, along with being free of fillers, excipients, flow agents and junk that might hinder bioavailability or create health issues.

Keep in mind that sulforaphane is the beneficial byproduct produced endogenously, meaning that your body makes sulforaphane by converting glucoraphanin into this antioxidant. The addition of myrosinase increases overall sulforaphane conversion, however, the amount of sulforaphane production is individual and dependent on multiple factors. According to a Johns Hopkins study, the addition of myrosinase to glucoraphanin produced an increased conversion to sulforaphane-- 10% conversion on average with single-agent glucoraphanin compared to an average conversion of 35% with the addition of myrosinase. 

We believe that being transparent helps us build trust and brand loyalty. When you read our label, you immediately understand our intention and passion for transparency and purity. We value your commitment to health and strive to help you achieve your wellness goals. 

 

At Pure TheraPro Rx, we create supplements that build a healthy body, and we do this by first building your trust.

We will never purchase raw materials because of cost, and risk potential health hazards. For this reason, our entire product line is China-free---and we intend to keep it that way!

We believe raw materials from China may pose a potential health risk, based on a long history of recalls and occurrences, such as historically China-made products containing heavy metals and other cancer-causing contaminants. We have the word “Pure” in our name for a reason.

We choose our raw materials based on quality, not cost. Although they may be more expensive, we believe in going the extra mile to provide quality and peace of mind for our customers.

Increased cost to us does not mean increased cost to you! Being that we are direct-to-consumer with no middle man raising our expenditure, we are able to provide the highest quality, pharmaceutical grade supplements at affordable prices to our customers—not just to the wealthy—but everyone!

We use a GMP certified and FDA inspected manufacturing facility along with rigorous quality standards to produce our line of exceptional pharmaceutical-grade nutraceuticals. Our health-practitioner-recommended formulations are typically patented and consist of highly researched ingredients for maximum efficacy. All Pure TheraPro Rx brand supplements are non-GMO, China-free, made in the USA and free of excipients, fillers and flow agents that hinder bioavailability.

 

Purity is Priority.



Sources:

https://sdcnutrition.com/transparency-why-it-matters-in-the-supplement-industry/#:~:text=Transparency%20means%20that%20your%20customer,to%20information%20concerning%20business%20practices.


https://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/view/dietary-supplement-transparency-and-traceability-2017


https://blog.labelinsight.com/the-state-of-transparency-2016-vs-2018


https://wholefoodsmagazine.com/columns/tracking-transparency/knowing-whats-in-the-bottle-adds-value/


https://morningconsult.com/opinions/a-more-transparent-approach-to-dietary-supplement-safety/


https://www.crnusa.org/resources/2019-crn-consumer-survey-dietary-supplements-consumer-intelligence-enhance-business

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4629881/

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/