Is It Safe to Order Supplements on Amazon? It Can Be, but There Are Risks.

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When you're buying supplements, convenience and affordability are two of the biggest factors to consider. Many people turn to Amazon for exactly these reasons. But is it safe to order supplements from Amazon? Here's what you need to know about the potential risks of ordering supplements on Amazon and how you can order supplements safely.

Are supplements sold online regulated?

Supplements, overall, aren't subject to the same U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)regulations as over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medications. This is true regardless of where they're sold. The FDA doesn't approve dietary supplements before they go on the market.

Instead, companies that make supplements are required to follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs). This regulation asks supplement manufacturers to put forth products that are safe and contain what their labels say they contain. But the FDA doesn't check for contamination or routinely verify that supplements' labels are accurate.

So, it's up to each manufacturer to ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of their products before they sell them. This makes it easy for poor quality, counterfeit, or unsafe products to make their way to market. As a result, some supplements:

• Don't work as advertised

• Don't contain what their labels say they do

• Contain ingredients not listed on the label

• Contain ingredients in doses other than what's stated on the label

• Have ingredients whose quantities vary from batch to batch

Can the FDA recall a dietary supplement?

The FDA can recall a dietary supplement or take other action against tampered or mislabeled supplements once they're on the market. But note that this is after the product has already been sold and probably used by many people.

So, it's the consumer's job to make sure they're buying supplements that are safe and high quality (more on this below).

What are potential risks of buying supplements on Amazon?

Amazon isn't a carefully regulated marketplace. Millions of vendors sell there. Anyone can become a seller on Amazon.

Given the limited regulations around supplements overall, Amazon can be a risky place for buying supplements, said Dr. Shelly Latte-Naor, an internist and integrative medicine specialist in New York City. She likens it to "the wild west."

"There is complete lack of oversight and triage as to what products are being sold," said Dr. Latte-Naor. She added that while Amazon does sell some legitimate, high-quality supplements, it also sells problematic ones. And consumers have little insight into where their purchase falls on this spectrum.

According to Dr. Latte-Naor, buying from Amazon can come with several risks.

Inaccurate labels

Many products on Amazon have been found to be counterfeit - supplements included, Latte-Naor said. This is when supplements may appear to be from a popular brand, but don't actually contain what you expect - in other words, they're fake.

Other supplements contain tainted ingredients. Oneresearch study from 2022 analyzed 30 dietary supplement products that were sold on Amazon that claimed to support the immune system. The study found that:

• For 13 of the supplements, there were ingredients listed on the label that weren't even found in them.

• There were 17 supplements that had inaccurate labels.

• In nine of the supplements, there were extra ingredients that weren't even listed on the label.

Also, Consumer Reports reported in 2020 that the FDA found that over 50 dietary supplements sold on Amazon contained hidden drugs - including some prescription medications - that weren't listed on the label.

Many of these supplements were even labeled by Amazon as a "Best Seller" or "Amazon's Choice." These are designations that shoppers look for since they signal that the product is vetted and recommended by Amazon.

Lack of quality control practices

Amazon isn't able to regulate the amount of light or heat that supplements are exposed to. Supplements may also sit in a warehouse for long periods of time.

These factors can affect the quality and potency of supplements. The ingredients in your supplement may degrade or become ineffective by the time you receive or take them.

What is Amazon doing to address this?

To help protect against counterfeit products being sold on its site, Amazon created atransparency program. Participating companies place a unique code on their product package. Once customers receive the item in the mail, they can scan the code using the Amazon shopping app. Verified products will show a green check mark if the code is valid, and a red X if it's not.

But this program has downsides that make it less effective. Amazon doesn't provide a list of participating brands. So it's difficult for customers to find those brands or buy from them. Also, brand participation is voluntary, and a limited number of supplement companies currently take part.

What's the safest way to order supplements online?

To make sure you're buying supplements safely, Dr. Latte-Naor recommends the following five steps.

1. Get a recommendation from a qualified healthcare professional

Dr. Latte-Naor emphasized that getting recommendations from a healthcare professional can really help improve your chances of picking a safe and effective supplement. She explained that healthcare professionals often have more experience with certain products and can evaluate different quality measures to help you make better choices.

2. Make sure the brand is third-party tested and certified

Reputable supplement brands use independent third-party testing. This helps you choose a quality supplement. The certification process verifies that each product contains no contaminants and has an accurate ingredient label.

Always choose a supplement that has been audited by a third-party testing company, such as:

• NSF International

• U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP)

• Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)

• ConsumerLab

Supplements vetted by these companies will have a certification seal on their label. Note that third-party testing doesn't guarantee that the product will actually work for its intended purpose. It also doesn't guarantee that it'll be safe for you.

"It's just one layer of quality assurance," Dr. Latte-Naor said.

3. Buy from the brand's website directly

According to Dr. Latte-Naor, this will nearly always be the safest way to buy supplements. "If the supplement comes from the brand directly, then there's much lower risk of any kind of meddling," said Dr. Latte-Naor.

Buying directly from the brand also ensures that proper quality control practices are in place. This includes how the supplements are stored and shipped.

It's also safe to purchase from an authorized distributor of a brand. These are sellers that are officially approved by the brand to sell their items in bulk (for example, Target is an authorized distributor of NatureMade supplements).

You can often find out who a company's authorized distributors are on their website, or check ConsumerLab's list of authorized sellers of popular supplement brands.

4. Know how to read a supplement label (yes, you can read them online)

There are certain pieces of information that must be present on a supplement label, including:

• A third-party certification seal

• The name and location of the manufacturer

• A Supplement Facts panel

• A list of inactive ingredients

If any of these pieces of information is missing, don't buy the supplement.

5. Follow best practices if you're ordering from Amazon

"It's not that you can't purchase on Amazon. I have certainly bought supplements on Amazon," Dr. Latte-Naor said.

But If you do go this route, there are certain precautions to take. Dr. Latte-Naor advised shopping within the brand's "store" on Amazon. And always check the "sold by" name to make sure it lists the brand or an authorized distributor.

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