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Ripoff Alert: No Aloe was Found in These Aloe Vera Gel Products
by Julie Fidler, Natural Society:
Over the summer, like a lot of people, I purchase a bottle of aloe vera gel because, despite my best efforts, I always get sunburned when I work in the garden. Now I know where I’ll never be buying it from again: CVS. Don’t bother picking up a bottle at Walmart or Target, either. A Bloomberg News report from late 2016 shows that none of these store-brands actually contain any aloe.
All of the products listed aloe barbadensis leaf juice on the label as either the #1 ingredient or #2 (behind water). However, tests revealed that not a single one contained so much as a drop of aloe vera. [1]
Aloe’s 3 chemical markers – acemannan, malic acid, and glucose – were nowhere to be found in the tests for Walmart, Target, and CVS products conducted by a lab hired by Bloomberg. Instead, the products contained a cheaper ingredient called maltodextrin, a sugar sometimes used to imitate aloe.
Maltodextrin is a white powder usually found in processed foods as a thickener or filler, and in pharmaceuticals as a binding agent. It is also found in canned fruits, snacks, cereal, desserts, instant pudding, sauces, and salad dressings, as well as artificial sweeteners, as it contains fewer calories than sugar. [2]
Read: Health Benefits of Aloe Vera
Aloe vera gel sold at other stores was also shown to be potentially adulterated. The aloe gel sold at Walgreen’s contained 1 chemical marker, malic acid, but not the other 2. Ken Jones, an independent industry consultant based in Chapala, Mexico, says that means the presence of aloe vera can’t be ruled out. [1]
