Bloomingdale, IL—NOW, which conducts an industry self-policing program of testing unfamiliar brands found on Amazon with a goal of addressing bad quality products in the marketplace, has uncovered a wide variety of issues with supplements, including "abysmal" results of bromelain supplements sold on the site, had made a new, unsettling discovery: Multiple supplements sold on Amazon are impersonating the NOW brand, as well as another prominent industry supplement brand.

The discovery was made after NOW was alerted by several consumers who had purchased NOW branded products on Amazon that seemed suspicious. An investigated lead NOW to a company operating under the name A2X1 has been selling 11 different counterfeit NOW supplements on Amazon USA for roughly two weeks. As NOW reported, the products look like NOW supplements, but closer inspection reveals that fraud. The packaging, labels, and contents are falsified (see below).

NOW added that the product contains small white capsules with an odorless white powder, which NOW analyzed and confirmed that the substance is white rice flour. In addition, NOW found trace amounts of the pharmaceutical Sildenafil in some samples, the company reported. This is being reported to the FDA and, NOW expects Amazon to do a recall of all items sold on Amazon by the seller A2X1. Amazon has agreed to block all sales by the seller A2X1, NOW added, and in addition to asking Amazon to recall each item sold, NOW requested that Amazon give it a list of consumers who purchased the counterfeit products, as well inventory levels and information about the fraudulent seller.

The fraudulent products discovered so far:

NOW Adam Male Multi 180 Softgels

NOW Apple Pectin 700mg 120 Veg Caps

NOW D-Mannose 500mg 300 Veg Caps

NOW l-Glutamine 500mg 300 Caps

NOW l-Lysine 500mg 250 Veg Caps

NOW Lutein & Zeaxanthin 50 Caps (Should be Softgels)

NOW Magnesium Citrate 200mg 250 Tabs (Product is Capsules)

NOW Mood Support 90 Veg Caps

NOW Psyllium Husk 500mg 500 Veg Caps

NOW Saccharomyces Boulardii 60 Veg Caps

NOW Valerian Root 500mg 250 Veg Caps

“It’s enraging that these criminals are trying to cash in on trust in the NOW brand, earned over decades, to defraud consumers,” said Dan Richard, NOW Health Group VP of Global Sales and Marketing, in a press release.

More fraud revealed with supplements sold on Amazon

In the course of investigating the source of the fraudulent NOW products, NOW discovered that the same seller also had listed several vitamins from another prominent supplement brand. NOW shared that it has been in communication with that company and is working with them to get to the source of this problem. The company also asked that anyone who can assist in the investigation call NOW's Customer Service team at (800)999-8069, ext 2.

“We remain on high alert regarding this problem and have contacted the FDA Health Fraud Brand division as well as Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit,” Richard said. “Additional legal steps are being taken in order to find the source of the problem and put it out of business. However, we fear that these fraudulent products may reappear on Amazon by a different seller name, or on another platform or in other international markets.”

Unmasking the fraud

NOW discovered fraudulent supplements sold on Amazon.

Closer inspection reveals the supplements to be counterfeit. Image courtesy of NOW.

The counterfeit supplements were carefully designed to mimic the look of authentic NOW products, but closer inspection reveals them to be knock-offs. NOW outlined some of the packaging difference:

The bottle is not the exact same bottle NOW uses; the neck is different.
The fraudulent product lids are childproof, and not purple.
Each label does not contain any UPC number.
There is no lot number or any imprint on the bottom of the bottles.
The labels are squared on the edges, and not rounded.
The NOW logo on the front is slightly elongated, as is the main product name.
The labels can peel off and are not permanent, and are slightly more shiny.

In addition, NOW reported, some of the items were listed on Amazon as tablets or softgels. What consumers actually received, though, were small white #1 capsules. Another giveaway of the fraud: The bottles are labeled as capsules even in cases where NOW does not make or sell that product in that form.