CoQ10 Association reported that it has worked with partners to test over 100 CoQ10 products purchased online—and approximately 25% failed label claim, with some containing no active ingredient at all. All the failed products, the association said, were e-commerce products purchased on Amazon. Those brand and contract manufacturer (if known) have been alerted to the failed test results and asked to resolve the situation.
"While we have managed to make a difference in improving the overall market, we have a long way to go to meet our ultimate objective of ensuring all consumers who purchase CoQ10 products are getting a valuable product," CoQ10 Association said.
AsWholeFoodsreported in May 2020, NOW Foods also has tested several CoQ10 (as well as SAM products purchased on Amazon—and found them lacking. “Today, especially, more people are buying their supplements online, which is why we are making this information public,” Dan Richard, VP of Global Sales and Marketing, said in the company's announcement regarding the testing. “NOW takes defrauding consumers personally and it is in the best interest of the entire dietary supplements industry to identify and work to purge such bad actors to protect consumers.”
In hisTracking Transparencyblog forWholeFoods,Scott Steinford, Founder, Trust Transparency Center / CoQ10 Association, wrote: "Responsible actors in our community have spoken of the product promise in dietary supplements, where a product contains efficacious amounts AND has in the bottle what is claimed on the bottle. We conveniently call non-compliant companies 'outliers, yet many of these online brands are becoming quite prolific and larger players. We at TTC will continue to test and pressure this marketplace. We hope at some point to find willing partners in the e-tailing community to help us ensure a better industry."
Next steps for the CoQ10 Association in its efforts to improve the category and broader industry: The association announced its commitment to test every single ingredient CoQ10 brand across traditional and online retailers to confirm label claim, and to notify the brands that fail testing.
"This action is intended to completely identify, in this case, vetting gaps in this particular category in the hopes that gatekeepers such as Amazon will step up and enforce reasonable legitimate practices," CoQ10 Association said. "It is not intended as a condemnation of the CoQ10 market or the industry. We are using CoQ10 as a starting point to identify and help correct issues of negligence that harm both trust and credibility."
