Health
Secrets are often about shortcuts. Nutritional supplement manufacturers took the shortcut of paying of (er, lobbying) congress to make sure the FDA did not look too closely at the ingredients or health claims of the miracle pills. The good news -- for some of us anyway -- is that this has been enough rope for some snake oil salesmen (Dr. Phil comes to mind) to hang, if not quite seriously harm themselves. The problem is that while some manufacturers are scrupulous about their machines, others save some time and money by using the same machines (not always thoroughly cleaned) for different supplements. Contaminants and a lessened efficacy of the supplement can result. Oh, and professional athletes can also lose millions of dollars -- or have a convenient excuse as to why they tested positive for steroids.
