Jane Black
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
And he wants the industry to be reputable and safe.
When people ask for something impossible, even us, he says no.
Frank says a lot of people selling supplements came to this business because supplements are a good business.
Often the people who come to the industry used to sell some other less profitable products.
Frank told us that the supplement business really, really took off during COVID.
In fact, supplement sales have increased around 50% since before the pandemic.
There's also the wellness influencers on TikTok and Instagram.
They've also contributed to the jump in sales.
Even our own Health and Human Services Secretary, RFK Jr., he's a big fan of supplements.
His acting FDA commissioner wants to make them even easier to make and to sell.
One of my favorite stories is in the 1910s.
There was this really popular supplement.
It was claiming it could cure malnutrition using strychnine, which is in rat poison.
And around that same time, a guy entranced with the power of radiation sold radioactive water as a cure for fatigue, which was popular until a New York tycoon's jaw fell off.
His jaw?
Bell off.
Just disintegrated.
Supplements have always been really hard to regulate.
They're kind of a food because, you know, they're designed to supplement your diet.
But they're also pills or gummies or powders.