JACKSONVILLE,Fla. – Dietary supplements are now a $40 billion a year industry, but they're not as safe as you might think.
Twenty-three thousand people a year wind up in an emergency room after taking a supplement.
Supplements are easier to get than prescription drugs, and they carry an aura of being more natural and thus safer.
A Consumer Reports survey found 50 percent of Americans believe that supplement makers test their products for effectiveness and 38 percent believe that supplements have been tested for safety by the Food and Drug Administration.
"For the most part, supplement makers don't have to prove that their products are safe, Jeneen Interlandi said. "They don't have to prove that they work as advertised. And they don't have to prove that packages contain what the labels say that they do."
Consumer Reports has just released an investigation on supplements.
"Because the regulations are so weak, dietary supplements can be contaminated. They can be ineffective,” Interlandi said. “They can be spiked with illegal or prescription drugs and they can have harmful side effects."
In response, the Council for Responsible Nutrition representing supplement manufacturers said that supplements are adequately regulated and the vast majority are safe.
Consumer Reports has identified 15 supplement ingredients to avoid that have been linked to serious health hazards.
For example, people use yohimbe for obesity, sexual dysfunction and depression, but it can raise blood pressure and heart rate, cause headaches, panic attacks, seizures, liver and kidney problems and possibly death.
Other examples include caffeine powder, green tea extract powder and usnic acid.
Yet, Consumer Reports found those 15 supplement ingredients in products sold by major retailers such as GNC, Costco, CVS, Walmart and Whole Foods.
Consumer Reports believe the best way to protect the public is to have stronger federal regulation of supplements.
Consumer Reports caution that many supplements can also interact in dangerous ways with prescription drugs.
People should tell their doctor what supplements they are taking before starting a new prescription.