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No Evidence of Aloe Vera Found in the Aloe Vera at Wal-Mart, CVS (bloomberg.com)
From a Bloomberg report:The aloe vera gel many Americans buy to soothe damaged skin contains no evidence of aloe vera at all. Samples of store-brand aloe gel purchased at national retailers Wal-Mart, Target and CVS showed no indication of the plant in various lab tests. The products all listed aloe barbadensis leaf juice -- another name for aloe vera -- as either the No. 1 ingredient or No. 2 after water. There's no watchdog assuring that aloe products are what they say they are. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn't approve cosmetics before they're sold and has never levied a fine for selling fake aloe. That means suppliers are on an honor system, even as the total U.S. market for aloe products, including drinks and vitamins, has grown 11 percent in the past year to $146 million, according to Chicago-based market researcher SPINS LLC. "You have to be very careful when you select and use aloe products," said Tod Cooperman, president of White Plains, New York-based ConsumerLab.com, which has done aloe testing. Aloe's three chemical markers -- acemannan, malic acid and glucose -- were absent in the tests for Wal-Mart, Target and CVS products conducted by a lab hired by Bloomberg News. The three samples contained a cheaper element called maltodextrin, a sugar sometimes used to imitate aloe. The gel that's sold at another retailer, Walgreens, contained one marker, malic acid, but not the other two.
If they can't even detect any, that stuff must be super potent!
Unregulated product a sham, news at 11!
If only they would remove government regulations than this would never happen.
love the taste, hate the texture
Our government officials are screaming that regulation is killing our economy. And those of use that don't live in the USA are constantly told that in the future we will need to align our current regulations to that of the USA, regardless of how valuable they are, all in the name of the race to the bottom.
The supervolcano explosion or extinction-sized meteorite strike can't happen soon enough. We've proved beyond a reasonable doubt that we aren't worthy of surviving.
If only we could fall into a woman's arms without falling into her hands
No Aloe in non-regulated product? ... BURN
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
Just how much of the stuff we buy / consume / use isn't what it claims to be.
....let there be ACTUAL consequences, maybe?
Charge Wal-Mart with fraud for selling falsely-labeled products. One count per bottle on the shelves.
That's a big fine, yes? Well, Wal-Mart, if it didn't know about the fraud (and I expect they didn't actually) should be able to go after the producer for the fines they had to pay on their behalf.
Oh, I'm sorry: their producer is some untraceable company in some faraway land (because they were the cheapest, natch) that doesn't feel like it needs to behave according to laws and skips out on paying Wal-Mart back?
Huh. Almost like that's a reason one would want to buy from - I dunno - a DOMESTIC company where one has at least reasonable surety they they're going to behave within the law (or face consequences of same if they don't)?
Let me be clear: I'm a staunch Republican and free marketeer. But I recognize that the government DOES have a role in consumer protection and labeling, and needs to act aggressively to ensure that consumers in a capitalist marketplace can make free choices based on reliable information.
One might also notice that this exposure alone would either incentivize the spread of the rule of law, or bringing back more industry to the US. All without a new government agency, new powers, or a bevy of new laws - but instead government just DOING WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE DOING in the first place.
-Styopa
False advertising is a crime, it does not need additional regulation.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Article implies the FDA has no jurisdiction over this based on that they don't test cosmetics by default, but they do regulate based on it being a "misbranded" cosmetic product.
http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/G...
How exactly are we supposed to be careful, as the summary suggests, if we cannot trust the ingredients list on the packaging to be accurate?
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
See, just some zany mix-up at the factory!
FDA doesn't really matter. It's not necessary for them to regulate these products for consumer protection, as there are other laws and agencies that can help.
FTC, Universal Commercial Code and U.S. Code Title 15 already cover Truth in Advertising and Fair Labeling and Packaging.
IANAL but here's one possible example that could allow consumers and attorneys to go after these guys: Title 15 Chapter 39 Section 1452.
(a) Nonconforming labels
It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in the packaging or labeling of any consumer commodity (as defined in this chapter) for distribution in commerce, or for any person (other than a common carrier for hire, a contract carrier for hire, or a freight forwarder for hire) engaged in the distribution in commerce of any packaged or labeled consumer commodity, to distribute or to cause to be distributed in commerce any such commodity if such commodity is contained in a package, or if there is affixed to that commodity a label, which does not conform to the provisions of this chapter and of regulations promulgated under the authority of this chapter.
(b) Exemptions
The prohibition contained in subsection (a) shall not apply to persons engaged in business as wholesale or retail distributors of consumer commodities except to the extent that such persons (1) are engaged in the packaging or labeling of such commodities, or (2) prescribe or specify by any means the manner in which such commodities are packaged or labeled.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
By that I mean simply grow your own. :)
Aloe is a hardy plant and is perfectly content for you to leave it alone with just a bit of water now and then. It is also happy to give up a branch/frond/whateveryoucallit whenever you need a bit of the sap to soothe a burn.
~ T
In other related news, there is no evidence of babies in samples of Baby Oil, nor of motors in Motor Oil!
If "the salesman has already packed the wagon and moved onto the next town", why do the lawmen not follow them to the next town over? This isn't ancient Greece where you just leave the city and you're in a different country. When some fly-by-night company springs up, sells a bad product, and then "closes up shop", whoever did that is still around somewhere, and we can find them and punish them. If for some reason we're not finding them and punishing them, well, there's the problem right there.
Prior restraint of action is the literal antithesis of liberty, where you're not allowed to do anything without getting permission first, effectively presumed guilty until proven innocent. But to make sure that liberty does not become anomie, we have to make sure that if your actions bring negative consequences, they are suffered by you only, not an innocent party. If we're letting people cause harm and get away with it scot free, the solution is to not let them get away with it, not to make everyone ask permission first and prove themselves innocent before they attempt to do anything.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."