How to tell if supplements are fake?

The tub already in your hand: why the forum answer and the laboratory answer both fail, and the reference-tub method with its first four comparisons, lot format, print and seal, tub weight and count

How to tell if supplements are fake is asked most often by someone holding a tub they have already bought and already doubt, and the two answers they find first both fail them. The forum answer is to post photographs and ask strangers, and strangers cannot tell a counterfeit from a batch variation, a label redesign or a different regional packaging, so the thread fills with confident guesses in both directions and the person is no wiser. The laboratory answer is to send the tub for analysis, which answers the question properly and costs several times the price of the tub, so almost nobody does it. The method that works for a tub in hand sits between the two: a reference tub, one of the same product bought directly from the brand or its official UK channel, which is the only known-genuine comparator a buyer can obtain, against which the suspect is compared on seven points, four of which are measurements rather than opinions. The cost is one more tub, and the answer is nearly as good as a laboratory's for the question actually asked, which is whether this tub is what the brand sells.

The first comparison is the lot format. Every brand prints lot numbers in a fixed pattern, a set number of characters, letters and digits in a set order, a date code in a set place, and the reference tub shows the pattern; a suspect whose lot number is a different length, a different pattern or in a different place on the tub has failed before anything is weighed, because a counterfeiter copies a lot number from a photograph and does not know the pattern. The second is the print and the seal: side by side, the reference and the suspect are compared for the sharpness of the small text, the colour of the brand's logo, the finish of the label, the shape and material of the cap, the induction seal under it and its printed text, and the shrink band if there is one; genuine packaging is printed on the same line in the same materials for every batch, and a fake made in another factory differs in something, usually the small text and the seal. The third is the tub weight: on a kitchen scale, sealed, the reference and the suspect should be within a few percent, since the fill weight is controlled and the tub and lid are the same mouldings; a difference of more than that is a different fill or a different tub. The fourth is the count: the capsules or tablets counted, or the scoops of powder, against the label and against the reference; a short count is the commonest fake of all, a genuine-looking tub with fewer capsules, and a long count is a tub filled by someone who did not know the fill.

Four comparisons made, with the three that remain, the weight of ten capsules, the contents, and the brand's lot check, the tolerance that separates a fake from a batch, the recourse, the worked example and the verdict in the next section.

The last three comparisons, the weight of ten capsules or one scoop, the colour, smell and dissolution of the contents, and the brand's own lot check; the tolerance that separates a fake from a batch; the recourse; the worked example; and the verdict

The fifth comparison is the weight of ten capsules, or of one level scoop of powder, from each tub on the same kitchen scale. A capsule's fill is controlled to a tolerance on a production line and a genuine capsule from any batch weighs within a few percent of a genuine capsule from any other, while a fake filled with a cheaper ingredient, or with less of the real one, differs by more, because a different powder has a different density and a different fill; ten capsules together give a weight large enough for a kitchen scale to read the difference. The sixth is the contents: a capsule from each tub opened and the powders compared for colour, texture and smell, and a capsule or a scoop from each dropped into a glass of warm water and watched, since the same formulation dissolves or disperses the same way and a different one does not, and since a capsule that does not open in warm water in a reasonable time has failed a check a genuine product passes. The seventh is the brand's own lot check: an email to the brand's anti-counterfeit or customer contact with the suspect's lot number, the seller it came from and photographs of the label, asking whether the lot is theirs and was sold through that channel; brands that are faked answer this quickly, because they want the record, and a brand that says the lot is not theirs has settled the question.

The tolerance is what separates a fake from an ordinary batch, and it is why the measurements beat the photographs. A genuine product varies batch to batch within the tolerance the label allows and the fill's own variation, which on weight is a few percent, and within the normal drift of a print run; a suspect that sits within that band on every measurement and matches the reference on lot format, print and seal is almost certainly genuine, whatever a forum said, and a suspect that differs by more than the band on any measurement, or differs at all on lot format or seal, is almost certainly not, whatever the listing said. A single failed measurement is enough; the method does not require all seven to fail.

The recourse for a fake is in three places: the platform's or the retailer's returns for the money, with the comparison as the evidence; the brand's anti-counterfeit contact for the record, which is how the brand pursues the seller; and the medicines regulator if the contents suggest a hidden medicine, which in the categories most faked is a real possibility. The worked example sits in a category with no margin to fake, which is the honest reason it is low-risk and not a claim of immunity: {FL}, 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate stated as 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, is a mineral at 22p a day with no brand pull worth copying, sold on one marketplace by the brand under its own name with no third-party sellers, with its lot printed on the label and the four-metal batch certificate for that lot available on request, so that the seventh comparison, the brand's lot check, is answerable for every tub; it is UK made under GMP and BRC, 180 capsules for £19.99. The full label breakdown is here.

The verdict: for a tub already in your hand, buy a reference tub directly from the brand and compare the two on seven points, the lot format, the print and seal, the tub weight on a kitchen scale, the capsule or scoop count, the weight of ten capsules or one level scoop, the colour, smell and dissolution of the contents, and the brand's own lot check by email. A suspect within a few percent on every measurement and matching on format and seal is genuine; a suspect that fails any measurement, or differs on format or seal, is not. The forum cannot tell a fake from a batch and the laboratory costs more than the tub; the reference tub costs one tub and answers the question.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

How can I tell if the supplements I bought are fake?

By comparing the tub against a reference, one of the same product bought directly from the brand or its official UK channel, on seven points: the lot number's format, length and position; the print, logo colour, label finish, cap and induction seal side by side; the sealed tub weight on a kitchen scale, which should be within a few percent; the capsule, tablet or scoop count against the label; the weight of ten capsules or one level scoop from each tub; the colour, smell and dissolution of the contents in warm water; and the brand's own answer to an email with the lot number and the seller; a suspect that fails any measurement, or differs on format or seal, is a fake.

Can you tell fake supplements from photos on Reddit?

Rarely, which is why the forum answer fails: a photograph cannot distinguish a counterfeit from a batch variation, a label redesign or different regional packaging, strangers guess confidently in both directions, and the thread settles nothing; the things that settle it are measurements against a known-genuine reference, the sealed tub weight and the weight of ten capsules on a kitchen scale within a few percent, the count, the dissolution in warm water, and the lot format and seal compared side by side, plus the brand's own confirmation of the lot by email, none of which a photograph of the suspect alone provides.

What do fake supplements usually contain?

It depends on the category, because fakes follow the margin: a faked premium protein or pre-workout is usually filled with a cheaper protein, a lower dose or flour, which the weight of ten capsules or one scoop and the dissolution catch; a faked vitamin is often a genuine expired tub relabelled or a cheaper grade in a copied tub; and a faked fat burner or muscle product can contain an undeclared stimulant or steroid, which makes the buyer feel it worked and is the case for telling the medicines regulator; a short count in a genuine-looking tub is the commonest fake of all, and the count against the label is the quickest check.

What should I do if my supplements are fake?

Three things, in order: return the tub through the platform's or the retailer's returns with the reference-tub comparison as the evidence, which is where the money comes back from; email the brand's anti-counterfeit or customer contact with the lot number, the seller, the photographs and the measurements, which is how the brand pursues the seller and builds the record that gets listings removed; and if the contents suggest a hidden medicine, a stimulant effect from a product that should have none or a powder that is plainly not the declared ingredient, report it to the medicines regulator, which keeps the public record of supplements found to contain medicines.

Could this site's magnesium be faked?

Anything can be copied and this is a product nobody has a reason to copy, which is the honest answer rather than a claim of immunity: a mineral at 22p a day has no brand pull and no margin worth a counterfeiter's trouble, it is sold on one marketplace by the brand under its own name with no third-party sellers, and its lot is printed on the label with the four-metal batch certificate for that lot available on request, so the seventh comparison, the brand's lot check, is answerable for every tub; a buyer who receives a tub whose lot the brand cannot match has the one fail that would matter, and returns it.

Sources

1. The counterfeit supplement literature: falsified and counterfeit dietary supplements are documented on online marketplaces, concentrated in high-value branded categories, with seller verification and packaging inspection the principal consumer defences. PubMed record
2. The marketplace commingled inventory problem: when a marketplace fulfils orders from pooled stock of the same product code supplied by several sellers, a buyer who orders from a reputable seller can receive a unit supplied by another, so that counterfeit units entering the pool through one seller reach buyers of all, which is why the listing, the seller and the unit received are three separate checks. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ipo-counterfeit-goods-research
3. The UK and EU guidance on tolerances for nutrition declarations: declared values may deviate from measured values within published tolerance bands, macronutrients by roughly 20% and vitamins and minerals in food supplements by roughly 20% below to 50% above the declared value, with rounding rules for each nutrient. https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/nutrition-labelling
4. The pharmacopoeial disintegration test: uncoated tablets and hard capsules are required to disintegrate in warm aqueous medium within a set time, typically 30 minutes for uncoated tablets and shorter for capsules, the test a tablet pressed too hard to dissolve fails and a kitchen glass of warm water crudely imitates. PubMed record

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