An independent testing laboratory results provider, ConsumerLab.com, recently announced that GLC 5500 glucosamine/chondroitin equine powder concentrate passed the company’s testing criteria. According to ConsumerLab.com president Tod Cooperman, MD, this was the first equine product tested through the program.

Products were tested for the following:

• Identity: Does the product meet recognized standards of quality and does the product meet the level of quality claimed on the label?


• Strength (quantity): Does the product contain the amount of ingredient claimed on the label?


• Purity: Is the product free of common contaminants?


• Availability: Does the product break apart properly so that it may be used by the body?

ConsumerLab.com, which started in 1999 testing human products prior to entering the pet/companion animal field, does not test for absorption of the product.

Since its inception, ConsumerLab.com has tested nearly 2,000 products, according to Cooperman, with one out of four having problems. “Most don’t contain the amount of product they state (on the label),” he said, “and some contain heavy metals or don’t disintegrate properly