Herbal and dietary supplements are seen for sale in a shop May 26, 2010 in New York City. A U.S. government probe into herbal and dietary supplements found that some contain contaminants and use false marketing claims. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Herbal Supplements Fake? Mostly Rice, Wheat in Herbal Supplements, Report Says

Herbal supplements are fake or not exactly what they seem, according to a new report. The report says the herbal supplements market generates $5 billion a year but supplements are mainly comprised of filler.

In an exclusive, The New York Times reported that DNA tests have shown that many herbal pills that claim to cure things like cold symptoms or boosting memory are mostly rice and weeds.

Canadian researchers–using a kind of test called “DNA barcoding”–looked at 44 different types of herbal supplements sold by 12 firms, the paper reported.

Many of the pills, they discovered, are not exactly what is advertised while many were diluted with filler, including rice, wheat, and soybean.

Some of supplements included St. John’s wort and echinacea, which are frequently used in the United States.

“This suggests that the problems are widespread and that quality control for many companies, whether through ignorance, incompetence or dishonesty, is unacceptable,” David Schardt,with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told the newspaper. “Given these results, it’s hard to recommend any herbal supplements to consumers.”

In 2011, the Daily Mail reported that fake herbal pills to allegedly boost sexual performance contained Viagra ingredients, according to the FDA.

“This incident is an example of a growing trend of products marketed as dietary supplements or conventional foods with hidden drugs and chemicals,” Ilisa Bernstein with the Office of Compliance in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said two years ago.

But the Times reported that herbal supplements can be marketed and sold with not much regulatory oversight due to a law passed in 1994.

“We need a strong regulator enforcing the full force of the law. FDA resources are limited, and therefore enforcement has not historically been as rigorous as it could be,” Duffy MacKay of the Council for Responsible Nutrition told the paper.