Blockchain A Valuable Ally for DOJ In Fight Against Deceptive Dietary Supplements

There are various ways to create fake or counterfeit goods. The US Department of Justice will be pursuing both civil and criminal cases against the creators and marketers of dietary supplements. While most of these products are perfectly legal, there is an alarming rate of fake and deceptive products in circulation. Blockchain technology can be of aid to this investigation, albeit it’s doubtful the DOJ will pursue that line of action anytime soon.

Also read: Fidelity Charitable Starts Accepting Bitcoin Donations

Begone, Deceptive Dietary Supplements!

Many consumers around the world are enticed by the idea of staying healthy – and even losing weight – due to dietary supplements. On paper, the idea is simple: mix up some products with water or milk, drink it one or two times per day to replace regular food intake, and that’s it. Unfortunately for all parties involved, not all of these supplements are what they claim to be.

So far, the Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against a handful of executives of USPlabs LLC, the creators of workout supplement Jack3d. Also, this Dallas-based company creates weight loss supplement OxyElite Pro. These products are admittedly lucrative for the company, but both contain traces of Chinese synthetic stimulants.  

To put this news into perspective: these Chinese stimulants have been causing liver injuries for various customers. Whether or not the company was involved in this process willingly or not, is still up in the air right now. Four executives have been arrested, though, and the other two are expected to surrender soon.

“From California to Maine, consumers ingest pills, powders and liquids every day, not knowing whether they are wasting money or whether they may end up harming, rather than helping, themselves. Unfortunately, many of these products are not what they purport to be or cannot do what the distributors claim they can do.” – Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Mizer stated in a comment.

Blockchain Technology Is A Valuable Ally

Taking the fight to this industry – or any other industry where fake and deceptive items are of great concern – will not be an easy task. Prosecutors have been battling these issues for many years now and have very little success to show for their efforts. Once they start embracing blockchain technology, however, things will become slightly easier.

The blockchain is a powerful piece of technology than can be adapted to suit any need imaginable. Whether that need comes in the form of financial transactions, accountability, data storage, or ensuring products are made of what they claim to be, the blockchain can help in all of these cases. That being said, proper platforms will have to be built on top of this technology before this can happen, though.

Do you see a future in which blockchain technology will be used to verify the integrity of products? How would you implement this technology? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Ars Technica

Images credit 1,2,3