(TNS) — New York’s attorney general told four major retailers to stop selling some of their store-brand herbal supplements, saying they contained ingredients not listed on their labels and could expose some consumers to serious health risks.

Atty. Gen. Eric T. Schneiderman said Tuesday that many of the supplements sold in New York state by GNC, Target, Walmart and Walgreens also didn’t contain the ingredients they claimed to.

The attorney general said that 79 percent of products tested had no DNA of the plants listed on the labels or were contaminated by other material including rice, beans, pine and wheat.

In letters to the retailers, Schneiderman demanded that they stop selling the products, which include echinacea, ginseng and St. John’s wort formulas.

“This investigation makes one thing abundantly clear: The old adage ‘buyer beware’ may be especially true for consumers of herbal supplements,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “Mislabeling, contamination, and false advertising are illegal.”

The attorney general’s office said that because many of the products allegedly failed to identify all ingredients, consumers with allergies, or those taking medication, can expose themselves to serious health risks.

The attorney general’s office said it hired a DNA bar-coding technology expert to conduct the tests as part of a continuing investigation.

Representatives from Target, Walmart and Walgreens did not immediately comment.

GNC took issue with the testing method, saying in a statement that it stands “behind the quality, purity and potency of all ingredients listed on the labels of our private label products, including our GNC Herbal Plus line of products.”

http://personalliberty.com/4-big-retailers-accused-selling-herbal-formulas-containing-herbs/