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Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

fda.gov

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Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#61

Post by LeifCarrotson »

bilbo0s wrote: post #17
toomuchtodo wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FDA likely needs a data team if they don’t have one already to monitor Amazon for ongoing compliance. Similar to the SEC’s data team that monitors capital market data flows for anomalies that would indicate illegal behavior. My two cents: good market to be looking for good data folks who might want a (potentially remote) federal agency data job with shakiness in tech. https://usajobs.github.io/microsite-data-scie…

If you've ever been with a startup that needed a 510k, you'd know that the FDA regularly monitors everyone for compliance. At least in my narrow domain of medical imaging and treatment planning devices they do. I'd be surprised if they didn't have similar mechanisms in place in every area of their 'jurisdiction'. It doesn't really hurt the Amazons, they're just distributors. Doesn't really even hurt me. If RTP is a p…

> It doesn't really hurt the Amazons, they're just distributors.

I'm doing my first FDA-monitored automation project at a local brewery, and am quickly becoming familiar with the abundant controls that the FDA puts on domestic producers.

But the FDA is an American organization. Amazon or Ebay or Aliexpress or whoever may be just distributors, but they're international distributors. They're fully-automated self-service distributors for manufacturers in China and Russia and Indonesia and India who aren't subject to FDA jurisdiction, who sometimes aren't subject to any oversight at all.

The only entity that the FDA can go after here is Amazon, so this should hurt Amazon.

Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#62

Post by noodlesUK »

arcticfox wrote: post #37
noodlesUK wrote: post #26

I think with the state of things, Amazon should be completely banned from selling anything that might be construed a supplement. They have such lax controls that your protein powder or vitamin pills might contain pretty much anything. Even reputable brands bought from their brand storefront might be counterfeit [1]. You’d be shocked at the number of things that are counterfeit. A friend of mine recently bought a nich…

I used to think my wife was silly for spending more at beauty stores for her skincare products, but after realizing how insane Amazon's quality controls are, I think someone needs to actually shut them down. I wonder if there are any grounds for lawsuits. The number of counterfeit products they sell, even under "Sold by Amazon.com" is WILD. Zero supply chain discipline.

I think the issue is multifold: a lot of the fake products are not dangerous, but they are either useless, or otherwise inferior. There’s essentially no recourse for this as a consumer, and you probably won’t even notice that you don’t have an original product.

In some cases the fakes are downright dangerous. This is much more the case in supplements, cosmetics, food, and occasionally electrical appliances.

People will only sue them when they get actually dangerous products. Even then it’s a difficult process.

Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#63

Post by Xeoncross »

I purchased a vitamin c supplement that was pure white and odorless/tasteless. I posted a review and photos. Obviously fake filler of some sort, Amazon removed my review as inaccurate when it's obvious whatever was in those capsules was not ascorbic acid of any kind.

They also claimed to have zinc (greenish) and elderberry (purple). It's not safe for Amazon to let any random exporter put stuff for sale without any sanity checks.

Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#64

Post by noodlesUK »

tikkun wrote: post #55
arcticfox wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think my wife was silly for spending more at beauty stores for her skincare products, but after realizing how insane Amazon's quality controls are, I think someone needs to actually shut them down. I wonder if there are any grounds for lawsuits. The number of counterfeit products they sell, even under "Sold by Amazon.com" is WILD. Zero supply chain discipline.

Can you elaborate about counterfeit products being sold under "sold by amazon.com"? That's surprising to me, I treat that as a sign of something being non-counterfeit.

My understanding is that all sellers, including Amazon itself have co-mingled inventory. Therefore you can’t actually guarantee that what you’re getting is from Amazon’s stock, as opposed to some other random seller who gave the FBA warehouse a truck full of fake products.

Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#65

Post by lumb63 »

noodlesUK wrote: post #26

I think with the state of things, Amazon should be completely banned from selling anything that might be construed a supplement. They have such lax controls that your protein powder or vitamin pills might contain pretty much anything. Even reputable brands bought from their brand storefront might be counterfeit [1]. You’d be shocked at the number of things that are counterfeit. A friend of mine recently bought a nich…

Calling for Amazon to be banned from selling supplements is extreme, IMO. But they should be accountable for preventing counterfeit items from being sold or marketed as the items they’re counterfeiting. In cases where the authenticity of the item has not been verified, that should be made clear to the buyer. Absence of such an indicator would mean the product is authentic (consumers should IMO be able to rely on products being what they are marketed as by default). That would put them on par with pretty much any other supplement seller, and go a long way toward ensuring people get the items they buy.

Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#66

Post by ryandrake »

tikkun wrote: post #55
arcticfox wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think my wife was silly for spending more at beauty stores for her skincare products, but after realizing how insane Amazon's quality controls are, I think someone needs to actually shut them down. I wonder if there are any grounds for lawsuits. The number of counterfeit products they sell, even under "Sold by Amazon.com" is WILD. Zero supply chain discipline.

Can you elaborate about counterfeit products being sold under "sold by amazon.com"? That's surprising to me, I treat that as a sign of something being non-counterfeit.

Amazon commingles[1] inventory. So if there are N vendors selling an item, including Amazon.com, all N inventories just get mixed together at the warehouses. So if some M of those N are counterfeit, there's no way to know.

"As an example, if I sell Duracell C batteries on Amazon through their “Shipping Fulfilled by Amazon” — which I must do to receive Prime shipping designation — I need to send my batteries to an Amazon warehouse. After receiving my delivery, they will count the number of batteries, then slide the whole stock into a generic shelf labeled “Duracell C Batteries.” Any purchaser receives a Duracell C battery from that box, and thus the actual seller is unknown."

1: https://thetriplehelix.medium.com/your-amazon-products-could...

Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#67

Post by squidbeak »

tikkun wrote: post #55
arcticfox wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think my wife was silly for spending more at beauty stores for her skincare products, but after realizing how insane Amazon's quality controls are, I think someone needs to actually shut them down. I wonder if there are any grounds for lawsuits. The number of counterfeit products they sell, even under "Sold by Amazon.com" is WILD. Zero supply chain discipline.

Can you elaborate about counterfeit products being sold under "sold by amazon.com"? That's surprising to me, I treat that as a sign of something being non-counterfeit.

It's an inventory management exploit that Amazon seems in no hurry to fix.

https://www.redpoints.com/blog/amazon-commingled-inventory-m...

Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#68

Post by moritzwarhier »

lumb63 wrote: post #65
noodlesUK wrote: post #26

I think with the state of things, Amazon should be completely banned from selling anything that might be construed a supplement. They have such lax controls that your protein powder or vitamin pills might contain pretty much anything. Even reputable brands bought from their brand storefront might be counterfeit [1]. You’d be shocked at the number of things that are counterfeit. A friend of mine recently bought a nich…

Calling for Amazon to be banned from selling supplements is extreme, IMO. But they should be accountable for preventing counterfeit items from being sold or marketed as the items they’re counterfeiting. In cases where the authenticity of the item has not been verified, that should be made clear to the buyer. Absence of such an indicator would mean the product is authentic (consumers should IMO be able to rely on prod…

Defending the right of a company to profit from selling or mediating sales of products intended for human consumption, without any legal liability for their content or safety, is also pretty extreme.

Nevermind the fact that they pay no taxes, at least not here.

Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#69

Post by duxup »

mrweasel wrote: post #25
duxup wrote: post #18

More and more Amazon just seems like a "you're on your own" scam site. I can't figure out what I'm getting anymore. Half the listings are sponsored ads when I search. I searched for "Lego" this past Christmas and on the first page I got a bunch of products that were in what looked just like Lego boxes with Lego fonts and numbering ... but were not made by Lego and were clearly made to deceive. I noticed some items I…

The good thing about Amazon is that they've made it increasingly easy to stop buying from them. Finding the things you need is increasingly difficult and even if you find it, most of it seems like obvious scams. Amazon went from a bookstore to the "everything store" and back to being just a book store, because those are the only items you can reasonably find and trust to not be scams. It must be rather difficult to b…

Unfortunately my example of "low price from crappy seller" has largely been books :(

Re: Amazon receives FDA warning letter for supplements with undeclared ingredients

#70

Post by arrowleaf »

thedougd wrote: post #32

Do American grocery stores have better controls or does their broker model just happen to filter the junk?

Grocery stores typically have an extensive if not integrated supply chain they have absolute control over.
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