Supplement fraud is unfortunately more common when you don’t know or deal directly with the manufacturer.

I use Amazon for many items; however, supplements and some other items are absolutely off the list. It’s an ongoing issue of fraud and potentially toxic materials mixed with good advertisements and pricing that lures clients into bad purchases. To be clear, I have no fiduciary association with NOW company. I typically use only a handful of product manufacturers who are going the route of employing the pharmaceutical-level of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and more, testing of all their products with each batch to ensure quality delivery of the stated ingredients.

Essential Oils Market:

Over the past decade, the global essential oils market has experienced dynamic, sustained expansion, driven by a profound consumer shift toward natural, plant-based, and clean-label products. Growing at a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 8% to 11%, the market’s valuation nearly doubled as essential oils transitioned from a niche self-care segment into a mainstream wellness and industrial staple. This surge has been primarily fueled by heightened demand for holistic stress management, along with the widespread integration of popular plant extracts—such as citrus, lavender, and peppermint—into natural cosmetics, eco-friendly household cleaners, and clean-label food and beverage formulations. Furthermore, modern extraction innovations, such as supercritical (CO) extraction, alongside the rapid expansion of direct-to-consumer e-commerce channels, have drastically improved product accessibility, purity, and market reach, cementing essential oils as a vital pillar of the global functional health economy.

What’s Behind the Wave of Adulterated Products Online

Whether you rely on essential oils for relaxation or purchase dietary supplements to support your daily wellness routine, you likely assume that the front label tells the full story. Unfortunately, extensive analytical testing reveals that e-commerce marketplaces are flooded with products that fail to meet basic purity and potency standards.

Natural products manufacturer NOW Foods recently released a startling report examining lavender essential oils sold on Amazon, uncovering widespread dilution, chemical synthetic additives, and species substitution.

Here is a closer look at what the investigation uncovered, how it fits into a broader trend of online product quality issues, and how independent watchdogs are working to keep the industry accountable.

What the NOW Study Revealed About Amazon Lavender Oils

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is among the most popular essential oils in aromatherapy and personal care products. Because genuine lavender oil requires significant plant material to produce, high-grade oil is relatively expensive—making it a prime target for economic adulteration.

To evaluate market authenticity, NOW purchased 28 lavender essential oil products from Amazon and analyzed them using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry / Flame Ionization Detection (GC-MS/FID). They benchmarked the chemical profiles against International Organization for Standardization (ISO) criteria for authentic French and Bulgarian lavender oils.

(Note: Some failing samples exhibited multiple forms of adulteration).

Key Analytical Findings:

• Species Substitution: Over half of the failing samples used cheaper, lower-grade botanicals like lavandin or spike lavender, which contain higher levels of harsh compounds like camphor and 1,8-cineole.

• Dilution & Fillers: 60% of samples were stretched using cheap carrier oils, mineral oil, or synthetic extenders such as triethyl citrate.

• Synthetic Additives: 65% of products contained undisclosed synthetic fragrance compounds, artificial musks, or solvents like diethyl phthalate. These additives can trigger skin irritation, eczema, or respiratory discomfort in sensitive individuals.

• Price vs. Quality Correlation: The three passing products (which included NOW’s own lavender oil) were among the highest-priced options evaluated. Conversely, low-cost imported brands frequently failed across all metrics.

A Broader Trend: NOW’s Ongoing Marketplace Investigations

This lavender investigation is not an isolated event. Over the past several years, NOW’s in-house analytical lab has operated as an aggressive industry watchdog, regularly purchasing lesser-known supplement brands from major e-commerce platforms to verify their label claims. It should be pointed out that they simultaneously use  3rd partie labs to verify their findings.

Previous rounds of testing conducted by NOW revealed similar quality gaps in dietary supplements:

• CoQ10 & SAMe: Testing revealed that numerous budget brands sold online contained only a fraction of the listed potency—with some products testing virtually devoid of active ingredients.

• Astaxanthin & Phosphatidylserine: Follow-up rounds showed consistent potency failures among low-cost storefronts, where actual concentration was significantly lower than advertised on the bottle.

These findings highlight a systemic challenge: e-commerce platforms offer a low barrier to entry, allowing bad actors to list mislabeled or synthetic-spiked goods at prices legitimate manufacturers cannot match.

Other Independent Watchdogs Guarding the Supplement Aisle

NOW is not the only organization working to bring transparency to the dietary supplement and wellness market. Several independent third-party organizations evaluate consumer goods to ensure safety, purity, and label accuracy:

1. ConsumerLab.com

Founded in 1999, ConsumerLab is an independent testing company that purchases health and nutrition products directly from retail stores and websites. They perform rigorous laboratory testing for potency, heavy metal contamination, disintegration, and purity, publishing pass/fail reports to educate consumers.

2. USP (U.S. Pharmacopeia) & NSF International

Both USP and NSF offer voluntary third-party verification programs for supplement manufacturers. Products displaying the USP Verified or NSF Certified seal have undergone facility audits and batch testing to confirm that the bottle actually contains the ingredients listed on the label without harmful contaminants.

3. Labdoor

Labdoor independently purchases off-the-shelf supplements, sends them to FDA-registered laboratories for chemical analysis, and ranks products based on label accuracy, product purity, nutritional value, ingredient safety, and projected efficacy.

Take Aways:

1. Be Suspicious of Extreme Bargains: High-quality botanical extracts and pure essential oils require expensive raw materials. If a product costs 75% less than established brands, it is almost certainly diluted or synthetic.

2. Check for Botanical Names: Look for specific Latin names on the label (e.g., Lavandula angustifolia rather than just “Lavender”). However, keep in mind that fraudulent brands can still print fake botanical names on the label.

3. Look for Third-Party Seals: Choose brands certified by USP, NSF, Informed-Choice, or those with published third-party testing metrics.

4. Buy Directly from Reputable Brands: Purchase through established direct manufacturers or aggregators such as Fullscript rather than unverified third-party marketplace resellers.

References

1. Nutritional Outlook. (2026). Widespread Adulteration Detected in Amazon Lavender Essential Oil Offerings.

2. Personal Care Insights. (2026). Testing finds rampant adulteration in Amazon-sold lavender oils, posing potential risks.

3. Pharma Nord / NutraIngredients-USA. (2020). NOW Testing Reveals CoQ10, SAMe Products Sold on Amazon to be of Almost Uniformly Low Potency.

4. Nutritional Outlook. (2020). NOW testing shows potency far below label claims in certain products purchased on Amazon.

5. National Institutes of Health (NIH) / PMC. ConsumerLab.com: Independent Testing and Evaluation of Health and Nutrition Products.

6. Prohibited Substances and Mislabeling in Botanical Sports Supplements (2023) Presence and Quantity of Botanical Ingredients With Purported Performance-Enhancing Properties in Sports Supplements.

7. Ginseng Supplement Adulteration via DNA Barcoding (2024) Food Control (Hellberg et al., Chapman University)