Amazon adds joint supplements to testing listAmazon adds joint supplements to testing list

Online retail giant Amazon has added joint care products to the list of supplements that require third-party verification. Add it to the list of the top 3 quality-plagued supplement health categories.

Hank Schultz, Senior Editor

January 31, 2025

5 Min Read
Amazon has added joint health supplements to the list of product categories that require third party testing and verification.

At a Glance

  • Amazon unveiled testing requirements for supplements in early 2024. 
  • Now joint health supplements have been added to the list. 
  • Sex products, weight management and muscle builders were already on the list. 

Online retail giant Amazon has added joint health supplements to its list of categories that require third-party testing and verification. 

This includes any products that make claims regarding joint health, flexibility or mobility, and any products that contain any amount of classic joint-health ingredients glucosamine, chondroitin or MSM as ingredients.  

The goal is to raise quality standards and address issues around adulteration.  

Although this might constitute an onerous hurdle for some brands, it’s an opportunity for quality ingredient suppliers as well as quality finished product supplement brands.  

“That’s because the onus for testing is on the finished product company,” said Eric Anderson, managing director at NXT-USA, which markets its TamaFlex branded ingredient for joint comfort and flexibility. “The reason brands go to quality ingredient brands like us is they don’t want to have a problem. There’s a high bar of demarcation between doing it correctly and not. Quality companies should rise to the top.” 

In early April 2024 Amazon began action against sexual enhancement, weight management and sports nutrition/bodybuilding supplements. These three categories require third-party testing verification of products before being sold on its site. 

Related:Natural Grocers touts sustainability in face of headwinds

Joint health’s second appearance on the list 

Joint health supplements had appeared on the first iteration of that list. The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) said in August 2024 that after inquiring, it had been told by that joint health had been “inadvertently included in the policy due to an internal miscommunication.” 

Now, however, joint health is back on the list, according to an AHPA notification that went out yesterday. One difference is that marketers of joint health products will have 90 days to come into compliance, during which time their products can remain on the digital shelf. 

Test verification from one of three lab firms required 

Amazon’s policy stipulates that the testing must be done in or verified by one of only three testing, inspection and certification (TIC) organizations that have been accredited by the company. 

The three are Eurofins, UL Solutions and NSF International. SupplySide Supplement Journal previously reported on these “gatekeeper” companies. Supplement firms that have current reports of test results from ISO 17025 certified labs may provide this documentation to the third-party TIC organization that they are working with to document compliance. 

The policy was announced on April 2 and more broadly disseminated on April 17 via a webinar. In a statement, Amazon said the goals of the program are to ensure that: 

Related:Tariff tornado far from over, Israelsen predicts

  • Products are manufactured in a facility compliant with current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs, 21 CFR 111/117 or equivalent) as set forth by FDA. 

  • Products do not contain contaminants that may pose a human health or regulatory concern. 

  • Products contain the ingredients claimed on the product label. 

  • Products do not contain undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). 

FDA also down on the three categories 

Amazon’s initial focus on sexual enhancement, weight management and sports nutrition/bodybuilding mirrors concerns voiced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency has identified these as categories of special concern.  

FDA has posted this warning for consumers: “When you buy such products, you may actually be getting an illegal product; and that product may contain potentially dangerous ingredients that are not on the label.” 

Via a warning letter issued on Dec. 20, 2023, FDA also singled out Amazon for selling those kinds of products. The letter cited the firm for selling sexual enhancement products that were tainted with the erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs sildenafil (brand name: Viagra) or tadalafil (brand name: Cialis).  

Related:Tariff news puts industry on edge

These ED drugs have been safely used for years. But if consumers ingest them unawares, especially when the dosages are not specified, serious safety concerns can result, according to FDA. 

“[Y]our firm is responsible for introducing or delivering for introduction into interstate commerce products that are unapproved new drugs,” the warning letter stated. 

Weight management products have been cited by FDA as being at high risk for being tainted with undeclared APIs such as sibutramine, fenproporex, fluoxetine, bumetanide, furosemide, phenytoin, rimonabant, cetilistat and phenolphthalein. 

In the sports nutrition and muscle building categories, FDA’s primary concern is that the products may contain steroids or steroid-like substances.  

Various kinds of stimulants found in preworkout products are of concern as well. In 2022 FDA sent warning letters to 10 companies whose products were found to contain one or more of the following: 5-alpha-hydroxy-laxogenin, higenamine, higenamine HCl, hordenine, hordenine HCl, and octopamine. Most of the companies that received warning letters still sell products on Amazon. 

Joint health joins list of special concern 

Joint health supplements, or those that have been marketed for arthritis pain, have more recently become a cause for special concern by FDA. Since early 2022, the agency has issued 28 warning letters to marketers of joint health supplements. 

The warning letters have noted contamination of these products with a variety of undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).  

Robert Marriott, AHPA’s director of regulatory affairs, said while he’s not sure that the recent FDA activity signals a pressing public health concern, it did provide an impetus for the Amazon change. 

“I’m not sure that this is a ‘growing’ problem,” Marriott said. “I do think that FDA tends to pursue certain categories of products and that has provided what Amazon calls a ‘safety signal.’” 

Laundry list of APIs 

Among the APIs cited in the warning letters are: 

  • acetaminophen, a top-selling OTC pain relief drug;  

  • diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID, which is the most mentioned contaminant in the recent warning letters;  

  • dexamethasone, a corticosteroid commonly used to treat inflammatory conditions. 

  • phenylbutazone, an NSAID that has been discontinued for human use in the United States because of safety concerns. 

  • Piroxicam, another NSAID. 

  • Chlorpheniramine, an antihistamine used for allergies. 

  • Furosemide, a potent diuretic used to treat conditions such as congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and edema. 

  • Omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor (commonly referred to as PPI) used to treat gastric (stomach) acid-related disorders. 

  • Methocarbamol, a muscle relaxant that can cause sedation, dizziness and low blood pressure. 

 

 

About the Author

Hank Schultz

Senior Editor, Informa

Hank Schultz has been the senior editor of SupplySide Supplement Journal (formerly Natural Products Insider) since early 2023. He can be reached at [email protected]

Prior to joining the Informa team, he was an editor at NutraIngredients-USA, a William Reed Business Media publication.

His approach to industry journalism was formed via a long career in the daily newspaper field. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with degrees in journalism and German, Hank was an editor at the Tempe Daily News in Arizona. He followed that with a long stint working at the Rocky Mountain News, a now defunct daily newspaper in Denver, where he rose to be one of the city editors. The newspaper won two Pulitzer Prizes during his time there.

The changing landscape of the newspaper industry led him to explore other career paths. He began his career in the natural products industry more than a decade ago at New Hope Natural Media, which was then part of Penton and now is an Informa brand. Hank formed friendships and partnerships within the industry that still inform his work to this day, which helps him to bring an insider’s perspective, tempered with an objective journalist’s sensibility, to his in-depth reporting.

Harkening back to his newspaper days, Hank considers the readers to be the primary stakeholders whose needs must be met. Report the news quickly, comprehensively and above all, fairly, and readership and sponsorships will follow.

In 2015, Hank was recognized by the American Herbal Products Association with a Special Award for Journalistic Excellence.

When he’s not reporting on the supplement industry, Hank enjoys many outside pursuits. Those include long distance bicycle touring, mountain climbing, sailing, kayaking and fishing. Less strenuous pastimes include travel, reading (novels and nonfiction), studying German, noodling on a harmonica, sketching and a daily dose of word puzzles in The New York Times.

Last but far from least, Hank is a lifelong fan and part owner of the Green Bay Packers.

Subscribe for the latest consumer trends, trade news, nutrition science and regulatory updates in the supplement industry!
Join 37,000+ members. Yes, it's completely free.

You May Also Like