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NBJ Summit: The dietary supplement industry's counterfeit conundrum
Dietary supplement executives and natural retailers must educate consumers how to choose quality supplements and avoid counterfeits. Here are the takeaways from this NBJ Summit Mindshare.
2 Min Read
Annie Herzig, artist / Bryan Beasley Photography
At a Glance
- Natural retailers can be trusted gatekeepers for ensuring that dietary supplements are authentic and of high quality.
- Using technology could create a transparent, reliable supply chain, but some think the counterfeiters would infiltrate it.
- Amazon seems willing to accept comments from industry members about exaggerated claims to help fight counterfeiting.
Counterfeiting may not be the oldest profession but it’s certainly among the most common and consistently vexing of criminal acts, one that hits everything from Gucci bags to greenbacks. In supplements, however, the problem is especially troubling and difficult to control.
In a “Mindshare” session at NBJ Summit—a gathering of executives that included Amazon Customer Trust Director Katharine Lister and NOW Foods CEO Jim Emme, whose company has loudly called out the problem—participants agreed that counterfeiting supplements is complex, difficult to measure and can only be addressed by an alliance of industry, regulators, law enforcement and retailers both online and brick-and-mortar.
Lister, Emme and the session’s attendees discussed five topics:
Public health education—Teaching consumers how to shop for quality supplements and avoid counterfeits is an idea that might sound obvious but needs to be done carefully to avoid scaring consumers off altogether. The fact that few “how to buy quality supplements” education programs have emerged from trade associations and other groups illustrates how complicated the task could be.
Technology— Holograms, QR codes and radio frequence ID tags (RFID) on bottles and shipments have all been put forward as methods to trace goods and combat counterfeits, but some in the group pointed out that technology can also turn into an arms race with clever counterfeiters who can copy the technology and might do little to stop unscrupulous sellers.
Brick-and-mortar alliance—Natural retailers have long been the curators and gatekeepers for the supplement industry, employing standards that allow consumers to feel confident in their purchases. That same gatekeeper role could highlight confidence with regards to counterfeit as well. Natural retailers could assure consumers that they are selling the real goods because they come directly from the brands and qualified distributors—not through the behind-the-curtains network resellers use.
Online alliance—Among the biggest takeaways of the entire summit was Amazon’s readiness to engage with the industry. Ideas that executives in the session expressed included a system to report obviously exaggerated/impossible label claims that often indicate counterfeits.
Law enforcement engagement—Much of the frustration expressed in the session was directed at regulators, including the FDA, who many believe have done little to combat counterfeiting and show disregard for obvious safety issues. Going beyond regulators was a perhaps more urgent and important next step. Locking up counterfeiters could be the only way to keep them from simply moving on to fake a different brand when they get caught.
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