The Wild West of Wellness: Why I Founded Right Label Proven
In the laboratory, numbers do not lie. Mass spectrometry does not have a marketing budget. A chromatogram does not care about your brand story. In the lab, there is only truth.
But walk down the supplement aisle of your local pharmacy, or scroll through the best-sellers on Amazon, and you are stepping into a different world entirely. You are stepping into a world where “truth” is often the first casualty of profit.
The “Rice Flour” Incident
Three years ago, a close colleague asked me to analyze a high-end NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) supplement he had purchased for nearly $100. The label promised “99% Purity” and “Pharmaceutical Grade” potency.
I ran the sample through our High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system. I expected to see a sharp, clean peak indicating pure NMN. Instead, the data was chaotic. The result? Less than 12% actual NMN. The rest was rice flour, cheap fillers, and a trace amount of caffeine to make the user “feel” something.
This wasn’t just a manufacturing error. It was fraud. And it wasn’t an isolated incident.
The Problem: Regulation by Honor System
Most consumers assume the FDA tests supplements like they test drugs. They do not. The dietary supplement industry in the United States largely operates on a post-market “honor system.”
Manufacturers are expected to test their own products. But when a manufacturer is cutting corners to save margin, expecting them to police themselves is like asking a fox to audit the henhouse. The result is a market flooded with:
- Fairy Dusting: Including a microscopic amount of an expensive ingredient just to list it on the label.
- Heavy Metal Contamination: Lead and Mercury found in herbal extracts sourced from the lowest bidder.
- Instability: Products that degrade into useless powder weeks after bottling.
Why I Left the Sidelines
I realized that publishing papers in academic journals wasn’t enough. We needed a gatekeeper. We needed a standard that consumers could look for and trust instantly.
I founded Right Label Proven on three non-negotiable pillars:
- Blind Acquisition: We never let manufacturers send us “golden samples.” We buy what you buy, off the shelf, anonymously.
- ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation: We do not use home test kits. We use forensic-level laboratory standards accepted by courts of law.
- Binary Transparency: There is no “Grade B.” A product either matches its label 100%, or it fails.
A Challenge to the Industry
To the manufacturers reading this: If you are doing the right thing, you have nothing to fear. In fact, our seal is your greatest asset—it proves you are the 1% who values quality over quick cash.
To the consumers: Stop guessing. Look for the seal. Demand the data.
We are here to bring science back to wellness. Welcome to the new standard.
Sincerely,
Dr. Richard H. Sterling
Founder, Right Label Proven
