Herbal supplements pulled from store shelves

A new investigation is raising concerns about what's inside certain brands of herbal supplements.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday he has sent letters to the four major store chains involved -- GNC, Target, Walmart and Walgreens -- demanding that they immediately stop selling adulterated or mislabeled dietary supplements.

During the investigation, DNA testing on hundreds of bottles of store-brand herbal supplements sold in New York state as treatments for everything from memory loss to prostate trouble found that four out of five contained none of the herbs on the label. Instead, they were packed with cheap fillers such as wheat, rice, beans or houseplants.

Schneiderman said the supplements pose serious risks. People who have allergies or are taking certain medications can suffer dangerous reactions from herbal concoctions that contain substances not listed on the label, he said.

"This investigation makes one thing abundantly clear: The old adage `buyer beware' may be especially true for consumers of herbal supplements," the attorney general said.

The herbal supplement industry criticized the method used to analyze the samples and raised questions about the reliability of the findings.

"The DNA might not necessarily show up in a finished product. But that doesn't mean it doesn't still have all those phytochemicals which is what the consumer really wants from their product," said Steve Mister, President of the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

Walgreens will pull the products nationwide while it conducts own review. Walmart released a statement saying it will follow up with its herbal supplement suppliers and GNC said it will pull the products in question from its New York stores. Target also issued a statement saying the store will investigate the claims and also pull the product from store shelves.

The Food and Drug Administration requires supplement manufacturers to verify their products are safe and labeled correctly, but supplements are not subjected to the same rigorous approval products as prescription drugs.

The full statements released to NBC are below:

Target

"Target is committed to providing high quality and safe products to our guests. We take these claims seriously and will continue to focus on ensuring that our products meet or exceed all relevant standards. We are partnering with our vendor to investigate the matters raised by the report and intend to cooperate fully with the Attorney General. While that investigation proceeds, Target will comply with the New York Attorney General's request to pull these products."

Evan Lapiska, Public Relations, Target

Walmart

"At Walmart, we want our customers to have complete trust in the products they buy from our stores. It is our expectation that all suppliers conduct their business and produce products that are in full compliance with the law. Based on this notice, we are immediately reaching out to the suppliers of these products to learn more information and will take appropriate action."

Brian Nick, Director, National Media Relations, Walmart

Walgreens

"We take these issues very seriously and as a precautionary measure, we are in the process of removing these products from our shelves as we review this matter further. We intend to cooperate and work with the Attorney General."

Emily Hartwig, Corporate Media Relations, Walgreen Co.

GNC

"In response to your inquiry, GNC states the following:

*We stand behind the quality, purity and potency of all ingredients listed on the labels of our private label products, including our GNC Herbal Plus line of products.

*The methodology employed by the University of Guelph in testing our products has not been approved by the United States Pharmacopeia and may not be appropriate for the testing of these herbal products.

*GNC tests all of its products using validated and widely used testing methods, including those approved by governing bodies like the United States Pharmacopeia and the British Pharmacopeia.

*While we firmly stand by the quality, purity and potency of all GNC products, we will remove the product lots named in the Attorney General's letter from our stores in New York State to comply with the binding legal authority of this order, not because we agree with the testing methods used to support it."

Laura Brophy, Director of Client Services, GNC