Every bag of Shakeology has this on the label; “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”
Someone recently reach out to me and said, “I love Shakeology, but I’m concerned about the FDA labeling on the package, why isn’t Shakeology FDA approved?”
My answer was, “you’ll be happy to know that the FDA does not approve ANY dietary supplements. However, the FDA does set regulations and guidelines for the manufacturing of supplements, which Beachbody follows.”
Since Shakeology is a dietary supplement, it can NOT be approved by the FDA, no matter what, because they don’t do that. “Approved” is not even the correct word to use because there is no approval or evaluation process on Shakeology by the FDA to begin with.
EVERY supplement you find will have “These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA…” on the label.
SEE ALSO: Is Shakeology Worth The Cost?
What Is FDA Approved?
I thought this quote from a former FDA commissioner was very interesting;
“The thing that bugs me is that the people think the FDA is protecting them. It isn’t. What the FDA is doing and what the public thinks it’s doing are as different as night and day.” -Herbert Lay, M.D., former FDA Commissioner
If you’re worried about something being FDA approved, or not approved, it’s important to understand what the FDA actually does (and why they do it.) Remember, the FDA does not evaluate or approve ANY supplements.
The FDA, from what I see, is all about pharmaceutical drugs, and making money.
What I think is ridiculous is that the FDA does not approve natural treatments/supplements that are proven to work. For example, scurvy, which is a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency can be treated and cured with vitamin C supplements. This is proven and doctors will agree. However, because vitamin C is natural, and not a drug that can be patented, the FDA does not approve it.
More on vitamin C and the FDA here – http://preventdisease.com/news/14/022114_Intravenous-Vitamin-C-Cancer-Killer-The-FDA-Wants-Banned.shtml
What the FDA does, from the book, Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau;
“There have been several outstanding books and articles written about how the FDA operates. But in the end, the FDA is the agency that approves drugs. And when a company gets a drug approved, it’s like putting billions of dollars in profits in the bank. So companies will do anything to get the FDA to approve drugs. It’s interesting to note that of the last twenty FDA commissioners, twelve of them went to work directly for the drug industry upon leaving the FDA and were paid millions of dollars. Let’s be honest, that’s a payoff. It should be illegal; it’s a conflict of interest, and it’s wrong.”
And lastly, if you’re curious on how the FDA started, here is a video that I found shocking and eye-opening.
This post, which was originally supposed to be on Shakeology and FDA approval turned into a “FDA Bashing” post, which wasn’t my intention. I kind of started down a slippery slope and the more research I did, the more dirt I found. And I’ll be honest, my knowledge on the FDA is limited. I’ve only read a few articles and watched a few youtube videos so I’m not an expert on the subject by any means.
What I can tell you, and what the main purpose of this post originally was, is to answer the question, why isn’t Shakeology approved by the FDA?
And the answer is because the FDA does not evaluate or approve any dietary supplements, including Shakeology. Pick up any supplements you have around the house and you will find the same thing on every label. “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”
Just because something hasn’t been evaluated by the FDA doesn’t mean it’s a bad or harmful product. The FDA only approves drugs… so maybe it’s FDA approved substances that you need to look out for and stay away from.
SEE ALSO: Looking For Shakeology Samples?