NOW (Bloomingdale, IL) reported that it recently discovered multiple fraudulent supplements sold on Amazon mimicking the NOW brand as well as another prominent supplement brand. NOW began investigating after being notified by several consumers about suspicious NOW branded products they had purchased.

NOW said it discovered that one fraudulent company, operating under the name of A2X1, has been selling 11 different counterfeit NOW supplements on Amazon USA for about two weeks.  These products look like NOW supplements at first appearance, but the packaging, labels and contents are clearly falsified. Each product contains small white capsules with an odorless white powder, according to NOW.

On April 13, NOW said it concluded its analysis of the white powders in the capsules and confirmed that they contain white rice flour. NOW also found trace amounts of the pharmaceutical Sildenafil in some samples, which is being reported to the FDA and, as a result, expect Amazon to do a recall of all items sold on Amazon by the seller A2X1.

“It’s  enraging that these criminals are trying to cash in on trust in the NOW brand, earned over decades, to defraud consumers,” said Dan Richard, NOW Health Group vice president of global sales and marketing.

On April 11, Amazon agreed to block all sales by the seller A2X1. NOW has asked  Amazon to recall each item sold, and give NOW a list of these consumers, plus inventory levels and information about the fraudulent seller, the company stated.

While investigating this problem, NOW discovered that the same seller listed several vitamins from another prominent supplement brand as well. NOW said it has been in communication with that company and is working with them to get to the source of this problem.

“We remain on high alert regarding this problem and have contacted the FDA Health Fraud Brand division as well as Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit,” Richard said.  “Additional legal steps are being taken in order to find the source of the problem and put it out of business. However, we fear that these fraudulent products may reappear on Amazon by a different seller name, or on another platform or in other international markets.”

NOW said it is actively working to resolve this safety threat and consider this matter as the highest priority. NOW asked those with more information to call its customer service team at (800) 999-8069 x 2.

Some of the packaging differences include:

• The bottle is not the exact same bottle NOW uses; the neck is different.
• The fraudulent product lids are childproof, and not purple.
• Each label does not contain any UPC number.
• There is no lot number or any imprint on the bottom of the bottles.
• The labels are squared on the edges, and not rounded.
• The NOW logo on the front is slightly elongated, as is the main product name.
• The labels can peel off and are not permanent, and are slightly more shiny.

Some of the items were listed on Amazon as tablets or soft gels, but consumers received small white # 1 capsules, and the bottles are labeled as capsules even in cases where NOW does not make or sell that product in that form, according to NOW.

For more information, visit www.nowfoods.com.