What should you look for in fake supplements list?

Follow the margin: why a list of fake supplements is a list of categories and channels rather than brands, the five categories where fakes are made and why each earns, and the one channel that spreads them

What should you look for in a fake supplements list is a question that assumes a list of brand names exists somewhere, and the honest answer is that such a list would be out of date the day it was written and would miss the point even when current. Counterfeiting is a business, and a business goes where the margin is: a fake is made where the gap between what it costs to produce, which is a tub, a label and a filler, and what it sells for is largest, and where the buyers are most numerous and least able to check. That means a useful list of fakes is a list of categories and channels, because the margin lives in categories and spreads through channels, and brand names come and go within them as demand shifts. The five categories below are where the counterfeit cases, the marketplace takedowns and the regulators' records cluster, ranked by how much a fake earns.

The first category is high-price protein and pre-workout from the brands with the strongest demand: a premium whey or a flagship pre-workout sells for several times the cost of the cheapest filler that can be put in an identical tub, the brands are recognised by every gym-goer, and the volume is enormous, so a fake earns most here and is found most here, with the fake filled with a cheaper protein, a lower dose or flour. The second is premium imported vitamins, the American practitioner and pharmacy brands a UK buyer wants and cannot easily price-check, where a fake or a relabelled expired tub sells at a price the buyer assumes is the import premium. The third is fat burners and weight-loss products, where a fake earns twice, because it can be filled with nothing and sold on a promise, or filled with a hidden stimulant that makes the buyer feel it worked; this is the category the medicines regulator's record is thickest in. The fourth is muscle and testosterone products, where the same two-way fake applies with steroids and their precursors as the hidden filling. The fifth is the premium single-ingredient tubs resold at scale, the branded creatine, fish oil and collagen, where the fake is a cheaper grade in a copied tub. The commodity products with thin margins and no brand pull, a plain mineral at pence a day, are not worth faking, and are not faked.

The one channel that spreads fakes beyond the seller who made them is pooled marketplace stock: on some marketplaces, identical listings from several sellers are fulfilled from one inventory, so that a counterfeit tub sent in by one seller can be shipped to a buyer who ordered from another, including from the brand's own listing in some arrangements. The list of fakes therefore has a channel entry as well as five category entries, and the channel entry is read on every marketplace purchase whatever the category.

Five categories and one channel listed, with the four public lists worth reading, the seven tells that work across every category, the worked example and the verdict in the next section.

The four lists worth reading, the medicines regulator's record, the food safety withdrawals, the brand's own anti-counterfeit page and the seller line; the seven tells across every category; the worked example in a category not worth faking; and the verdict

Four lists exist that are worth a buyer's time, and none of them is a list of fake brands. The first is the medicines regulator's record of products sold as supplements that were found to contain medicines, which is the nearest thing to a fake list the UK has, because a product with a hidden medicine is a fake in the sense that matters whatever its tub says; it is searched by product and brand and read for the categories it clusters in. The second is the food safety authority's withdrawals and recalls, which list products pulled for contaminants, undeclared allergens and non-permitted ingredients, some of which are counterfeits discovered in the supply chain. The third is the brand's own anti-counterfeit page, which the brands most faked all maintain, showing the genuine lot number format, the seal design, the print quality, the scoop and the label features that fakes get wrong, and sometimes a lot or code checker; it is the most useful list of all because it is specific to the tub in the buyer's hand. The fourth is the seller line on a marketplace listing, which says who is selling and who is dispatching, and which turns a fake list into a decision: the brand or a UK retailer as seller is the genuine channel, and an unknown seller at a price below every genuine channel is the fake channel whatever the category.

Seven tells work across every category, and they are the list a buyer actually carries. A price below every genuine channel, because a fake is cheap to make and sells on the discount. A seller who is neither the brand nor a known UK retailer. A lot number whose format does not match the brand's genuine format on its anti-counterfeit page. A seal, print or label feature that differs from the brand's page, read on arrival. A label with no UK responsible operator, which marks a grey import if not a fake. A scoop, capsule, powder colour or smell that differs from the genuine product, read on opening. And a batch that cannot be found in the brand's checker or, for a certified product, in the programme's database. Any two of the seven together is a tub to return unopened, and the recourse is the platform's or the retailer's returns, with the regulator told if a medicine is suspected.

The worked example sits in a category a counterfeiter has no reason to copy, which is the honest reason it is low-risk rather than any claim of immunity: {FL}, 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate stated as 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, two capsules with the evening meal, is a mineral at 22p a day with no brand pull worth copying and a margin no counterfeiter would chase; it is sold on one marketplace by the brand under its own name with no third-party sellers, which keeps it out of the pooled channel, carries its lot number on the label with the four-metal batch certificate for that lot available on request, a UK responsible operator and address, UK manufacture under GMP and BRC, and 180 capsules for £19.99. The full label breakdown is here.

The verdict: a fake supplements list worth having is a list of categories and channels, because counterfeiters follow the margin, and the margin is in five categories, high-price protein and pre-workout from the most demanded brands, premium imported vitamins, fat burners, muscle and testosterone products and premium single-ingredient tubs, spread through one channel, pooled marketplace stock. The four lists worth reading are the medicines regulator's record, the food safety withdrawals, the brand's own anti-counterfeit page and the seller line, and the seven tells travel with the buyer to every tub. A plain mineral at pence a day was never on the list, and that is the only sense in which any product is safe from it.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

Is there a list of fake supplement brands?

Not a useful one, because a list of brand names is out of date the day it is written and misses how counterfeiting works: fakes are made where the margin is largest and the buyers most numerous, which is five categories rather than a set of brands, high-price protein and pre-workout from the most demanded brands, premium imported vitamins, fat burners, muscle and testosterone products and premium single-ingredient tubs, spread through pooled marketplace stock; the lists worth reading are the medicines regulator's record of products found to contain medicines, the food safety authority's withdrawals, a brand's own anti-counterfeit page and the seller line on a listing.

Which supplements are most commonly faked?

The ones with the biggest gap between filler cost and selling price and the biggest demand: premium whey and flagship pre-workouts from the brands every gym-goer recognises, filled with a cheaper protein, a lower dose or flour; premium American practitioner and pharmacy vitamins a UK buyer cannot price-check; fat burners and weight-loss products, which can be filled with nothing or with a hidden stimulant; muscle and testosterone products, with steroids as the hidden filling; and branded creatine, fish oil and collagen at a cheaper grade in a copied tub; a plain mineral at pence a day has no margin worth chasing and is not faked.

How do I check if a supplement is fake?

With seven tells that work across every category, read before buying and on arrival: a price below every genuine channel; a seller who is neither the brand nor a known UK retailer; a lot number whose format does not match the brand's genuine format on its anti-counterfeit page; a seal, print or label feature that differs from the brand's page; a label with no UK responsible operator; a scoop, capsule, powder colour or smell that differs on opening; and a batch that cannot be found in the brand's checker or a programme's database; any two together is a tub to return unopened through the platform's or retailer's returns, with the medicines regulator told if a hidden medicine is suspected.

Where do fake supplements come from on Amazon?

Mostly from third-party sellers who are neither the brand nor a UK retailer, selling at a price below every genuine channel, and from pooled stock, the arrangement on some marketplaces by which identical listings from several sellers are fulfilled from one inventory so that a counterfeit tub sent in by one seller can reach a buyer who ordered from another; the defences are the seller line, read on every listing for sold by and dispatched by, buying from the brand's own listing, and inspecting the tub on arrival against the brand's anti-counterfeit page for lot format, seal and contents.

Can this site's magnesium be faked?

Anything can be copied, and this is a product no counterfeiter 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 chasing, it is sold on one marketplace by the brand under its own name with no third-party sellers, which keeps it out of pooled stock, and it carries its lot number on the label with the four-metal batch certificate for that lot available on request, a UK responsible operator and address, and UK manufacture under GMP and BRC; a buyer who receives a tub whose lot the brand cannot match to a certificate has the one tell 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 MHRA's borderline guidance: a product is a medicine if it is presented as treating or preventing disease or has a significant pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action, determined case by case on presentation and function. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-guide-to-what-is-a-medicinal-product
3. The Food Standards Agency's published food alerts and product recalls: a public, searchable record of allergy alerts, product recalls and withdrawals, including food supplements, with the business named and the reason stated. https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/search/alerts
4. 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

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