Company Spikes Dietary Health Supplements With Steroids
The New York Times reports that VMG Global has pleaded guilty to selling dietary health supplements that were laced with steroids. VMG Global, a sports nutrition company based in California, also does business as American Cellular Labs. The dietary health supplements in question are called Tren Xtreme and Mass Xtreme. Each product actually contained an anabolic steroid.
According to the FDA, a "dietary supplement" is a product taken by mouth that contains a "dietary ingredient" intended to supplement the diet. The "dietary ingredients" in these products may include: vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, glandulars, and metabolites. Dietary supplements can also be extracts or concentrates, and may be found in many forms such as tablets, capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids, or powders. The ingredients are categorized as "food", not as a "drug".
Any dietary health supplement that is on the market in the United States must label all of its ingredients. Any dietary supplements that contain any undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients, like steroids, are classified as illegal, misbranded drugs.
VMG Global knowing deceived the government and consumers when it marketed its illegal drugs as dietary supplements from 2005 until the middle of 2009. The company pleaded guilty to one charge of introducing unapproved drugs into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud and mislead. The company had agreed to destroy their remaining inventory of its two supplements as well as pay penalties that could reach up to $500,000. For more information about dietary supplements and steroids, please visit our Related Resources links.
Related Resources:
- Warning on Body Building Products Marketed as Containing Steroids or Steroid-Like Substances (FDA)
- Unsafe Under Any Name: Designer Steroids May Be Hidden in Dietary Supplements (Findlaw's Common Law Blog)
- Dangerous Supplements Pose Challenges to FDA (Findlaw)
