Moving the Needle: 'Geranium extracts' exit the marketplace

Back in February of this year, Nutrition Business Journal reported in depth on the chorus of voices raising alarms about “geranium extracts” in preworkout supplements, a category of sports nutrition with outsized growth rates and sales topping $100 million in geranium-inclusive products alone, according to industry sources. We called the ingredient—believed by many scientists to not be geranium-derived at all, but rather a synthetic drug known better as 1,3 DMAA or methylhexaneamine—“the next nightmare” to hit the supplements industry and, through subsequent publications and presentations, called on industry to head off another ephedra by taking matters into its own hands.

This was, and is, a perfect opportunity for leading companies and organizations to step forward and make serious efforts at self-policing. It’s a perfect opportunity for industry to demonstrate with conviction that it truly cares about the health of its consumers. As we revisit this topic six months later, there’s a new question on NBJ’s mind. Who is actually capitalizing on this opportunity?