The Dr Oz effect!
From green coffee extracts to 7-keto and astaxanthin, if Dr Oz bigs up an ingredient, it will go big with consumers.
When Dr Oz mentioned the belly-busting effects of 7-keto in February, sales ‘caught fire’ and some suppliers were posting triple digit gains.
Similar effects were seen when astaxanthin was mentioned in 2011, with one supplier talking of “sky rocketing demand”.
While the industry has, in general, been happy to accept the positive attention from Dr Oz, some have cautioned about exaggerating claims for “Dr Oz recommended” and “As seen on Oprah”.
Dr Oz has not been 100% positive, however, with an episode of the show in January revealing data on the presence of unauthorized active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), including some banned and potentially dangerous APIs, in supplements sold via multiple channels across the US.
Tests conducted by James Neal-Kababick, director of Oregon-based Flora Research Laboratories as part of the Dr Oz show investigation, also showed that one supplement tested contained six times the levels of a drug banned by the FDA because of deaths associated with its use, while analysis of others revealed the presence of multiple banned APIs.