Supplements might not contain full ingredients listed

In my nearly 53 years, I've grown particularly less trusting during the last few. I keep hoping that companies do the right thing, but it seems as often as not, when money is on the line, they might not. A case in point is vitamins and nutritional supplements. They're out of purview of the governmental agencies. So much so, in fact, that supplements are required to put a¬†disclaimer¬†on every bottle specifically stating that the FDA has had no role in evaluating the bottle's contents. And wouldn't you know that some vitamin manufacturers claim a bounty of premium eye vitamin ingredients, including both Lutein and Zeaxanthin, while putting less of the stuff in the bottle than is listed on the label. In some cases, less than 1% of what is claimed! The story is preposterous. But it's true. I first got wind of the issue from my role as an Industry Advisory Panelist for the Ocular Nutrition Society. A couple months ago, ONS members received notification that a specific manufacturer was putting nearly zero Lutein and Zeaxanthin in its formulas, while marketing it to the public and doctors as having absurdly high concentrations of these substances. Worse, ONS said that there was little that they could do to protect the "good guys" such as VisiVite from the scoundrels who stole advertising space and naively spent consumer dollars. But today, I received a recommendation to visit the site, eyevitaminlab.org, which lists 7 out of 11 samples as falling below stated label claims. If VisiVite was listed, I knew it was a given that we were going to be in good shape. And we were, along with 3 others. But many others were rated "Not Recommended," based upon inflated Lutein and Zeaxanthin claims. Two manufacturers were listed as having less than 1% of claimed Lutein! The Ocular Nutrition Society reached a dead end pursuing this with the FDA, which is overwhelmed with prescription drug issues, and doesn't allot enough resources to track down these reports. And in the end, ONS didn't have the dollars to fight the battle on its own. This issue not only casts a black eye on the entire nutritional supplement industry. It's also terribly deceitful of consumers. What an "eye opener" ! -- Paul Krawitz, M.D., President and Founder VisiVite.Com¬†