Consumer group finds several Ginkgo biloba products don’t meet standards

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. Recent tests performed by ConsumerLab.com of Ginkgo biloba supplements found that few products meet quality standards. Among the products selected for review, two appeared to contain adulterated material and two others contained less ginkgo than claimed on their labels.

A fifth product failed to identify the part of the ginkgo plant used, a Food and Drug Administration labeling requirement.

Only three ginkgo supplements passed ConsumerLab.com’s tests, the company reported Tuesday.

The results were reported today in ConsumerLab.com’s Product Review of Supplements for Memory & Cognition Enhancement which focuses on three ingredients that have shown some promise in improving memory – Ginkgo biloba, huperzine A and acetyl-L-carnitine. Among the huperzine products selected, two passed testing while a third provided only 14 percent of its claimed amount of the ingredient. All five acetyl-L-carnitine supplements passed testing.

“Ginkgo extract is a moderately expensive ingredient. Some companies put less of it in their products than they claim or use ingredient that has been adulterated with inexpensive material that can fool non-specific tests,” charged William Obermeyer, ConsumerLab.com’s vice president for research. “Highly specific test methods, such as HPLC, reveal these shortcomings, allowing us to direct consumers toward products of better quality.”