​Vitamin Shoppe will pay Oregon $545,000, ban DMAA, Picamillon and other illegal supplements from Oregon stores

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum today announced a $545,000 settlement with the nutritional supplement chain Vitamin Shoppe Inc. that will prohibit the company from selling dietary supplements with illegal or unsafe ingredients.  Under the settlement, Vitamin Shoppe is prohibited from selling any dietary supplement after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued written notice that the product contains an ingredient that is unlawful or unsafe.  In addition, Vitamin Shoppe may not sell DMAA, picamillon, and other unlawful ingredients in Oregon.

“The nutritional supplements that Vitamin Shoppe was selling have the potential to do a lot of harm. Continuing to sell a purported dietary supplement after the FDA warned it was unsafe or unlawful is unacceptable,” said Attorney General Rosenblum. “This is the first agreement of its kind that holds a retailer financially responsible for selling products manufactured by a third party that they knew or should have known were not safe or not lawful.”

The Assurance of Voluntary Compliance filed in Multnomah Circuit Court resolves allegations that Vitamin Shoppe sold products with unsafe or unlawful ingredients.  Oregon alleged that Vitamin Shoppe sold products containing DMAA, an amphetamine like ingredient, even after the FDA determined the ingredient was unsafe or illegal. Despite warnings from the FDA, Vitamin Shoppe continued to sell the product containing DMAA in Oregon. The State also alleged that Vitamin Shoppe sold products in Oregon containing picamilon, an unlawful dietary ingredient sold in other countries as a drug to treat psychiatric disorders. 

Under the terms of the settlement, if the FDA, or any other governmental entity in the U.S., Britain, Canada, the European Union or Australia brings the safety or legality of a dietary supplement sold by Vitamin Shoppe into question, Vitamin Shoppe must conduct an independent investigation to confirm whether the product is safe. 

The settlement requires Vitamin Shoppe to pay $545,000 to the state of Oregon to be used for consumer protection and other purposes. The full AVC is here.

In May, 2015 the Oregon Attorney General settled with Vitamin Shoppe to permanently ban in Oregon stores dietary products that contain BMPEA, a powerful stimulant, which was sometimes contained in weight-loss drugs.  

Contact:

Kristina Edmunson, Department of Justice, Kristina.Edmunson@doj.state.or.us, 503-378-6002