'Stuff' found in the supplement gelcap, what my action should be?

June 20, 2013 7:16 AM

I found something in supplement gelcap, what should be my course of action?

I bought Life Extension Super K with Advanced K2 Complex from Amazon and found this stuff in one of the gelcaps. Apart from contacting manufacturer and posting a review on Amazon, what should be my course of action?

This company trumps their good manufacturing practices etc. in their magazine. This experience indicates that it is not what they make it sound like. I would like them to correct the problems for consumers (because some folks pay membership to this company for discounts), plus something in addition to that. What 'that' is, I don't know (but pls. don't focus answer on this point).

Many thanks

posted by zaxour to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Your pic is extremely blurry. It's not clear what the "stuff" is, or whether there's anything wrong with it.
posted by jon1270 at 7:40 AM on June 20, 2013

It's a gelcap. Is the stuff in question not in the other gelcaps in the package?
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:44 AM on June 20, 2013

I think your response depends on their response- if they tell you "Oh no! We'll recall that entire batch immediately and notify everyone who purchased it!" then they're kind of doing the work for you. They've protected consumers and they've exposed their mistake.

If they blow it off as not a big deal... well, it depends on what that substance is and how dangerous you think it is. From the picture, I can't tell- is that a liquid, a solid, maybe something fibrous? For example, if they sent a capsule that was completely empty by accident, or completely full of safe filler material that's usually just a small portion of a capsule, I don't know that it would be a life or death matter- they should apologize to you, but that sort of thing just is going to happen sometimes with mass production.

If they made a dangerous mistake but won't admit to it, I'm personally not sure what the next steps are. A complaint to the Better Business Bureau, perhaps?
posted by Secretariat at 7:46 AM on June 20, 2013

Best answer: Your first course of action should be to take a much, much better photograph of this "stuff", including the capsule it came out of. (I assume that's what happened here? You opened a capsule and pulled this out?)

Your second course of action should be to bag them in ziplock baggies so they don't get contaminated.

Your third course of action should be to have a good buddy who works in a biochemistry lab who can find out what this "stuff" is, and if it's, oh wait, actually maybe part of the product. If you do not have a biochemist friend, find a private lab who will analyze it for you. They will want money to provide this service.

Your fourth course of action, if this "stuff" is determined to be some sort of dangerous contaminant, and not actually part of the supplement, is probably to have a lawyer contact the supplement company.



But right now, anything you do is going to sound like the crazy rantings of someone who is opening up supplement capsules and pulling out random bits of what the fuck and can't even take a decent enough picture to show anybody what it is.

You can always write a letter to the company, but you really need to have something better to work with than this blurry picture and a statement that you found it in a capsule.
posted by phunniemee at 7:47 AM on June 20, 2013 [10 favorites]

Also, whatever you do, be sure to save the bottle--you'll want to reference the lot and batch number.
posted by phunniemee at 7:49 AM on June 20, 2013

Best answer: Dear Life Extension Co,

I am writing to bring your attention to an anomaly I discovered in a capsule in a bottle of Super K with Advanced K2 Complex, [list whatever numbers etc are printed on the packaging]. I have enclosed [etc].

I was quite surprised to find anything out of the ordinary in your product, as I understand from your advertising that good manufacturing processes are a priority for your firm.

This was, of course, an unsettling find for me, and I look forward to your considered response regarding Life Extension Co's plans to address this, and to ensure this is not a phenomenon other customers will encounter.

Very truly yours,
zaxour
posted by kmennie at 7:49 AM on June 20, 2013 [8 favorites]

Just to add to phunniemee's comment about crazy rantings- I used to work at a small health food store and there were several people a week who would come in with a similar complaint like this. Usually the complaint was "it smells funny". We would refund their money, to keep the customer happy, but usually would not be able to find a reason to send the complaint on to the vitamin company- it just wasn't possible to prove that anything was wrong (some people just won't believe that B vitamins and fish oil do smell funny). So be aware that they probably hear random complaints all the time- don't be one of those people in the eyes of the company. Document what you found clearly and save everything.
posted by Secretariat at 7:56 AM on June 20, 2013

Best answer: I had a situation where I found some "debris" in a food product (I am being vague since I had to sign a confidentiality thing after I accepted their settlement).

I wanted the company to sincerely apologize for the situation, and I wanted to be ensured that they investigated to make sure that no one else would end up with said debris in their food.

What happened was not that.

I contacted the company. Told them what I found. They asked me if I would send them the debris. They sent me a prepaid courier envelope immediately - I sent them the packaging and debris. Keep in mind that my intent was NOT on seeking a settlement (otherwise i might have kept the debris myself and tried to figure out what it was). No one was harmed by the food, no one injested anything bad. 2 weeks go by, no updates. I contact them. A manager offers me a $10 gift certificate, out of the blue. At this point I had never asked for any compensation. I wanted an explanation of how on earth the debris got into their food product, and I wanted their apology. When I declined the $10 and asked them if they figured out what happened with the food product, she said they didn't have their investigation complete.

In the end, it took about a month for them to contact me (after at least 3 more calls from me, seeking an update). The did not acknowledge any wrongdoing. They also did not offer an apology. They did tell me they investigated and found no reason to explain the debris. The only thing they repeatedly did was to ask me what I would like as a settlement. Eventually I named a number and they agreed. Signed an agreement not to disclose and they mailed me my cash.
posted by caroo at 11:09 AM on June 20, 2013 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you everyone.

I tried to take a good picture but this 'stuff' is about 3mm long and 3mm wide, still I will try to take a better picture. As a someone who worked in pharmaceutical manufacturing, I suspect, this is a piece of some kind of raw product packaging (but I could be wrong).

Frankly, milking them is not my intention. Since this sector is not regulated by the FDA (and this foundation is one of the many fiercely opposing FDA regulation), I think they should own it up, offer an apology and implement good manufacturing practice.
posted by zaxour at 3:15 AM on June 25, 2013