Monday, 9 February 2015

[Straits Times] Tests on herbal supplements: GNC replies

IN RESPONSE to Mr Sia Cheong Yew's letter ("Closer scrutiny needed on supplements"; last Saturday), GNC would like to reiterate the following points regarding the quality, purity and potency of all ingredients listed on the labels of GNC-branded products ("Four top US retailers accused of selling bogus supplements"; last Wednesday).

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.

GNC Herbal Plus products meet all federal regulatory standards as monitored by the US Food and Drug Administration, and there are no adverse event reports concerning these products.

The DNA barcoding technology employed on behalf of the attorney-general's office in testing GNC Herbal Plus products has not been approved by the United States Pharmacopeia and may not be appropriate for the testing of these herbal products. The attorney-general's office has refused to provide the test data to GNC.

GNC is cooperating fully with the New York attorney-general's office and has provided it with the opportunity to review our full and robust product data submission.

In Singapore, we are fully cooperating with the authorities and have been providing any information they require.

We expect that the products in question will be found to be fully compliant with all US state, federal and international regulations.

We would like to thank our customers for their continued trust in us.

In the meantime, we urge customers or members of the public who would like additional information regarding this matter to contact our customer relations department on 6281-5688 or at livewell@gnc.com.sg

Jennifer Goh Lay Peng (Ms)

General Manager

GNC Singapore

ONI Global Pte Ltd