Fooled by a lizard: confusion among supplement buyers

Consumer research by the UK supermarket Tesco’s health shop, the NutriCentre, has polled 2000 people and found that 35% of people took supplements without really understanding what these remedies were supposed to do for them. Eighteen per cent said that they would take them if they were taken by celebrities. The survey also showed that 65% were not entirely sure of the ingredients in the complementary health products they were buying and 75% found the names of supplements confusing, to the extent that 68% thought that an iguana was digestive aid or herbal cough remedy rather than a large lizard. Presumably shoppers confused the word with guarana, a plant rich in caffeine.

Scotsman, 31 December 2003