You may have been taking fake protein supplements all this while! Here’s why!

If you are a fitness freak and have religiously been gulping the dietary supplements for better health and fitter body, here’s a little shocker! According to market research, nearly 70% of the dietary supplements that are being sold across the country are either fake or counterfeit products.

“Apart from fake, most of the dietary products are unregistered and unapproved,” said DS Rawat, general secretary of industry body ASSOCHAM.

The study done by ASSOCHAM and business consulting firm RNCOS noted that vitamins and mineral supplements are the most sold dietary products in the country—a demand propelled by the growing middle class that aspires to live a fitter life.

“Dietary supplements market in India is currently estimated at about $2 billion and is likely to almost double to $4 billion by 2020 thereby clocking a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 16 per cent during the course of next five years,” added Rawat.

According to several market reports, vitamins and minerals account for the largest share of the pie i.e. nearly 40% in the Indian dietary supplements market, which is followed by herbal supplements with 30% market share.

“Small committees should be built at block levels to check the prevalence of counterfeit products in the market and immediately discard them as they bring bad name to the industry,” he stated.

It should be noted that dietary supplements can only be purchased when they have been prescribed by a physicians, nutritionists, gym instructors and others who act as major influencers.

However, with fake and unapproved products flooding the healthcare market, it becomes imperative for the government and companies to come together to curb the rapidly-growing counterfeit products market. Until necessary measures are not being taken, we might just end up with poor health in our efforts to become healthier

Image credit: Indiatimes