The Wellness Brew - Issue 11

Roughly three out of four American adults take a dietary supplement, and most assume that what is on the label is what is in the bottle. The data over the past few years has made that assumption harder to defend. Independent testing has found heavy metals in best-selling protein powders, melatonin gummies with up to three and a half times the labeled dose, and counterfeit products on Amazon that contain almost none of the active ingredient on the label. This week's Deep Dive looks at why the supplement industry sits in this position and how to identify brands worth trusting. But first, we filtered the noise — here's what's worth knowing this week.

A class action lawsuit filed in California in April 2026 alleges that Campbell's microwavable soup products, marketed as safe to heat in their original containers, release microplastics directly into the soup when microwaved. The containers and lids are made from polypropylene plastic, which scientific research has shown can shed microplastic particles when exposed to heat. The complaint alleges that Campbell's was aware of the risk and continued to market the products as "microwavable" without disclosing the exposure. The case is Garvey v. The Campbell's Company, and it is one of the first major class actions to specifically target the gap between a "microwave safe" label and what actually happens to food packaging under heat. The broader point is worth reiterating. Aluminum cans, plastic bottles, plastic takeout containers, plastic-lined paper cups, and polypropylene soup bowls all involve plastic in direct contact with food, and heat dramatically accelerates how much of that plastic ends up in the food itself. The simplest move at home is to transfer hot food into a glass or ceramic container before microwaving it, regardless of what the original packaging claims. — Garvey v. The Campbell's Company, N.D. Cal. complaint, 2026.

ConsumerLab, an independent supplement testing organization, purchased and tested AG1 (formerly Athletic Greens) and found that a single 12-gram serving contained roughly 2.2 micrograms of lead. For context, the conservative daily threshold Consumer Reports uses for lead exposure in food and supplements is 0.5 micrograms per day. The FDA's interim reference dose for lead is meaningfully higher (3 micrograms per day for children, 12.5 for adults), but those are upper limits, not safe targets. Lead has no known safe exposure level. AG1 maintains that all heavy metal levels in its product are below the standards set by USP and NSF Certified for Sport, and the company tests every batch. Both can be true at the same time. The product can meet industry-standard safety thresholds and still represent a meaningful daily lead exposure when consumed once a day, every day, for years. The honest read is that whole-food-sourced greens powders almost always contain detectable heavy metals because the plants themselves absorb them from the soil. It’s not a scandal as much as it is an unfortunate realty in today’s world. — ConsumerLab, Fruits, Veggies, and Greens Supplements Review, 2022.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick recently discussed the cognitive evidence of blueberries on the Jack Neel podcast, and the research base is stronger than the average "berry-is-a-superfood" claim suggests. A 2024 six-month double-blind randomized controlled trial published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, conducted at the University of East Anglia, found that daily blueberry consumption in adults with metabolic syndrome improved processing speed, memory, and self-reported mood compared to placebo. A 2025 meta-analysis pooling 34 clinical trials reached a similar conclusion across broader populations. The proposed mechanism is the most interesting part. The anthocyanins and polyphenols concentrated in blueberries increase brain blood flow and support the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the same growth factor activated by high-intensity exercise. BDNF is one of the most studied molecules in modern neuroscience because of its role in neuroplasticity, learning, memory, synapse formation, and long-term potentiation, the cellular basis of memory consolidation. The dose used in the strongest trials is roughly one cup of blueberries per day, fresh or frozen, ideally wild organic blueberries which contain a higher concentration of anthocyanins per gram. This is one of the rare cases in nutrition science where the headline matches the underlying evidence. — Curtis et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2024.

The American supplement industry is a ~$78 billion annual business, projected to reach $190 billion by 2035.[1] Roughly three out of four U.S. adults take at least one dietary supplement, and more than half qualify as regular users, per the Council for Responsible Nutrition's 2024 consumer survey.[2] In aggregate, Americans now spend more on supplements every year than the entire federal budget for the CDC.

Unfortunately, many consumers view supplements with the same trust they extend to prescription medicine. Take a capsule once a day, expect a result. The reality is that the regulatory environment is closer to that of food. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), the law that defines this market, supplements do not require FDA approval before going to market. There is no pre-market testing requirement. The manufacturer is responsible for verifying that what is on the label is in the bottle, and that the bottle is free of contaminants. The FDA can only intervene after a problem has been reported.

In other words, the consumer is the quality control test. 

The supplement industry has legitimate companies producing high-quality, well-tested products. It also has a widespread quality problem that is big enough that consumers cannot assume any given product is what it claims to be. The quality control issues can be broken down into three categories. 

Contamination. A 2024-2025 study by the Clean Label Project tested 160 protein supplements from 70 brands, representing approximately 83 percent of the U.S. market. Forty-seven percent of products exceeded California Proposition 65 thresholds for heavy metals including lead, cadmium, and arsenic.[3] A separate 2025 Consumer Reports investigation tested 23 protein products and found that more than two-thirds contained more lead in a single serving than the 0.5 microgram daily safety threshold the publication uses.[4] These are not edge cases and they extend across both whey isolate and plant-based formulations. 

Mislabeling. In a 2023 study published in JAMA, researchers at Cambridge Health Alliance and the University of Mississippi tested 25 brands of melatonin gummies sold in the United States. Eighty-eight percent were inaccurately labeled, with actual melatonin content ranging from 74 percent to 347 percent of what the label stated. One product contained no detectable melatonin at all, only undisclosed CBD.[5] 

Counterfeit and white-label products at the retailer level. This may be the most important finding for the average consumer. In a 2025 investigation, the consumer health platform SuppCo purchased 44 best-selling supplements from Amazon across four high-demand ingredient categories (creatine, NAD+, urolithin A, and berberine) and sent them to ISO 17025-accredited laboratories for testing. Half of the products (22 of 44) failed to meet their label claims. More striking: 20 of the 22 failures contained between 0 and 3 percent of the active ingredient listed on the label.[6] 

There was a pattern SuppCo identified that is worth understanding. Most of the failing products were white-label items manufactured overseas, sold under disposable brand names that have no direct-to-consumer website and exist only as Amazon storefronts. Every overseas-registered product SuppCo tested failed. Of the 13 products tested that had no brand website outside Amazon, every single one failed. The takeaway — where you buy a supplement matters as much as which brand is on the label. A bad actor can list a fake version of a legitimate product on the same marketplace as the real thing, and the consumer has no obvious way to tell the difference at the point of purchase.

The supplement industry is not uniformly broken. The middle ground here matters. Legitimate brands invest meaningfully in testing, quality control, and certification. The problem is that the regulatory floor is so low that bad actors can sit on the same shelf as good ones, and the consumer is the one carrying the risk.

Three filters do most of the work.

Filter 1: Third-party certification that means something. Four programs are worth recognizing on a label. NSF Certified for Sport tests for 270+ banned substances, verifies label accuracy, and screens for contaminants. It is the most rigorous of the four and the standard most professional athletes look for. Informed Choice is similar in scope to NSF and used widely in performance supplements. USP Verified is the United States Pharmacopeia program. It verifies label accuracy and screens for contaminants. Lastly, IFOS (International Fish Oil Standards) is the only third-party certification specifically for omega-3 supplements and tests every batch for purity, potency, oxidation, and freshness. Results are publicly searchable at certifications.nutrasource.ca.

"Third-party tested" written on a label is not a certification. The certifier's seal is.

Filter 2: Brand-level vs. product-level certification. A brand that has a few certified products is not the same as a brand where the full lineup is third-party tested. The most rigorous brands publish a certificate of analysis (COA) for every batch, accessible by lot number from the product page. If the brand cannot show you what is in the bottle, the brand has not actually verified it.

Filter 3: Buy direct. The SuppCo Amazon finding is the headline here. The cleanest way to be confident in what you are buying is to purchase directly from the brand's website. Reputable specialty retailers (Thorne sells through select practitioners, Momentous sells direct) are the next-safest channel. Amazon should be a last resort for any supplement, and never for a product whose brand exists only on Amazon.

The brands below are consistently well-vetted. However, it’s important to note that not every product from every brand is worth buying. Even the best brands have products in their lineup that do not meet the same standard as their flagship items. The consumer's job is to evaluate the specific product, not the brand badge.

Thorne. Multiple NSF Certified for Sport products. Particularly good for single nutrient supplements (vitamin D, magnesium glycinate, zinc), creatine, and amino acids. Most products publish a certificate of analysis. Worth knowing: not all of their products are NSF Certified and their protein powders contain ingredients we covered in last week's issue, including sweeteners and gums, that you may want to avoid.

Momentous. NSF Certified for Sport across nearly the entire lineup. Particularly strong on creatine, omega-3, and magnesium threonate. Their flavored proteins contain stevia and natural flavors, but do not contain gums or emulsifiers, which can be hard to find. 

Transparent Labs. Publishes certificates of analysis and is certified by Informed Choice. Transparent Labs is known for their workout and performance supplements and has a transparent approach to ingredient labeling. Once again though, their protein powders contain artificial sweeteners and natural flavors that some readers will want to avoid based on last week's framework.

Promix. Third-party tested, though not NSF or Informed Choice certified. Promix is one of the best protein options on the market. Whey isolate sourced from grass-fed cows, no artificial sweeteners, no gums, no seed oils. They also publish heavy-metal testing for each batch. 

Editor’s Note: No brand is a one-stop shop. I personally use different products from each of the above brands. There are also plenty of other high-quality supplement companies not listed above. The key is knowing what to look for, who you can trust, and buying to fit a specific need (e.g. letting bloodwork inform the vitamins and minerals you actually need to supplement). 

The Takeaway

The goal of this issue is not to scare anyone away from supplements. Well-sourced, evidence-supported supplements are a meaningful part of a high-quality lifestyle. The goal is to make sure that what is in the bottle matches what is on the label and that you know what you’re consuming. The actionable takeaways below are where to start.

Three things you can do this week:

1. Test before you supplement. Vitamin D, B12, iron, zinc, and magnesium are all available on a blood panel. Ask your physician to order a comprehensive panel. Supplementing what you do not need is at best wasteful and at worst counterproductive. Knowing your baseline turns guesswork into precision.

2. Look for the certification, not the marketing language. "Lab-tested," "premium," "doctor-formulated," and "third-party tested" on a label are marketing terms with no regulatory definition. NSF Certified for Sport, Informed Choice, USP Verified, and IFOS are independent certifications that mean something specific. Look for the seal. If it is not there, look for a certificate of analysis or testing results on the product page. If neither is available, treat the product with caution.

3. Buy direct, not from Amazon. Where you buy a supplement matters as much as the brand on the label. Counterfeit and white-label products are documented to circulate widely on Amazon, often containing little to none of the labeled active ingredient. Purchase from the brand's website or a reputable specialty retailer. If a brand exists only on Amazon and has no direct-to-consumer presence, treat the listing as a warning sign.

If you do find yourself shopping for supplements, I’ve partnered with Momentous to offer subscribers a discount. Use the code WellnessBrew for an additional 10% off new subscriptions and 14% off one-time purchases. If there are other brands (including non-supplement companies) you’d like to see partnerships with, drop me a note. I'm building these out gradually, with brands that meet the standards we just walked through, and the codes will stay exclusive to subscribers. 

As always, please forward this to your friends and family. If you had this forwarded to you — sign up here.

Wellness, filtered.

The Wellness Brew

Sources:

Disclaimer: The Wellness Brew is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The content published here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, supplement routine, or lifestyle.