The nutritional and dietary supplement industry has exploded in recent years, fueled partly by social media influencers and branded content. … [T]he rise of an alternative health movement, social media platforms moving away from fact-checkers, and a healthcare industry that continues to fail its most vulnerable, the fight against the supplement industry has reached a boiling point.
There are plenty of reasons the supplement industry has become a multibillion-dollar powerhouse. Americans facing a dysfunctional medical system and soaring healthcare costs often turn to supplements as a solution, creating a clear pathway to the industry’s waiting arms. However, there are other legislative factors at play as well.
This kind of misinformation about supplements is hurting people. [R]ecent studies show most vitamins don’t actually improve health. The other third of supplements Americans consume are pills, powders, and tinctures containing — and I can’t stress this enough — who knows what. Tainted supplements send thousands of people to the emergency room each year, as a report from Business Insider shows.
The companies most invested in lobbying also pour significant money into influencer campaigns, although the exact figures aren’t public. For instance, Vital Proteins, the company that sells the blue bottle collagen peptides influencers shill, spent nearly $1.2 million during the 2024 election. Of that, only about $5,000 went to Democrats or liberal groups, and none of their political spending went to nonpartisan groups.
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“Social media influencers use anecdotes and testimonials to push supplements,” Timothy Caulfield, the research director of the University of Alberta’s Health Law Institute, told Mashable. “Supplements have become one of, if not the, biggest drivers of the wellness influencer industry.”
